A high-ranking Caribbean tourism official said the region should use the coronavirus shutdown as a chance to upgrade its hotels and resorts.
Frank Comito, the CEO of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, said that for better or worse the islands have familiarity in coming together and sharing their crisis management experience from past woes, such as hurricanes and earthquakes.
"The data clearly shows we bounced back better and stronger ... there's every reason to believe we will be resilient once again," he said on a recent Foreign Press Association webinar, according to the Caribbean Journal.
The newspaper said Comito praised resort owners for using the slowdown to refresh their offerings and facilities and - at a social distance - train staff on advanced aspects of the sector.
Jamaica, for instance, has set up an $8.7 million package for tourism-related workers, including funding a skills training program for workers who are sidelined because of the impact of the virus.
And it appears the region will have the time to do some work as the virus has kept airlines on the ground and the lucrative cruise industry in docks far from the Caribbean.
In an article written by Reuters, tourism employs an estimated 2.5 million people and generates - directly and indirectly - nearly one-third of the economic output for the 26 islands and provinces, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) predicted last month that tourism numbers would drop 20 to 30 percent this year. The Caribbean Development Bank said the numbers would be worse - a 50 percent drop if travel restrictions continue until September and a 100 percent falloff if the policies stay in place all year.
That would be a difficult blow after the Caribbean Tourism Organization predicted a strong recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.
"We are really in a series of unknowns, searching to find what very well could become the new way that tourism could operate," Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett told Reuters.
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