EDITOR’S NOTE: The Caribbean travel industry is abuzz with the news that visitor arrivals had declined by 65.5% in 2020. #IslandsCaribbean will therefore begin a two-part series on the Caribbean travel industry in the near future. This newsletter will begin the series by focusing on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) organizations and member states.

What the future will look like depends on who you ask. Our headline taken from the Jamaica Gleaner reads: “Caribbean economies could become COVID-19 ‘long-haulers’ says IMF”. Clearly, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees the entire Caribbean at risk of sustained economic downturn post-pandemic because “most of its countries rely heavily on tourism”.

But, it did note that CARICOM had launched an Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan to develop a financing strategy to support post-pandemic investment needs. The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) notes that in 2020, except for Guyana, “the economies of its 19 borrowing member countries (BMCs) contracted by 12.8 per cent on average”.

However, it predicts economic growth will be 3.8% in 2021. And, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) projects a year-to-year increase in visitor arrivals by 20 per cent. The Guyana Tourism Authority believes that country is positioned for a rebound. And, Sandals Resorts International (SRI) is forging ahead to achieve this in other CARICOM nations.

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