WTTC Report Shows Impact of COVID-19 on Caribbean

A new report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) found COVID-19’s impact on the Caribbean’s travel industry results in losses of around $33.9 billion.

According to the WTTC’s annual Economic Impact Report (EIR), travel and tourism’s contribution to the Caribbean’s gross domestic product fell from $58.4 billion (14.1 percent) in 2019 to $24.5 billion (6.4 percent) in 2020.

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Travel and tourism’s contribution to the region’s GDP dropped a staggering 58 percent, higher than the global average. In total, the loss of travel-related income resulted in the loss of an estimated 680,000 jobs across the Caribbean.

“WTTC believes that if restrictions on travel are relaxed before the busy summer season, alongside a clear plan to allow inbound visitors to return to the region once again, the 680,000 jobs lost across the Caribbean could return later this year,” WTTC Senior Vice President Virginia Messina said.

“Another year of terrible losses can be avoided if governments support the swift resumption of international travel, which will be vital to powering the turnaround of the Caribbean economy,” Messina continued. “Our research shows that if mobility and international travel resume by June this year, the sector’s contribution to global GDP could rise sharply in 2021, by 48.5 percent, year-on-year.”

The WTTC’s report found the number of people employed in the Caribbean travel and tourism sector fell from nearly 2.76 million in 2019 to 2.08 million in 2020, a decline of 24.7 percent.

Domestic visitor spending also declined by 49.6 percent and international visitor spending fell by 68 percent. The news isn’t all bad, though, as new data shows most departures scheduled from the United States in 2021 are to the Caribbean and Mexico, which should aid in the region’s recovery.