O Estado da Jamaica no Turismo do Caribe e um caminho a seguir

As the world continues to reel from this universally disruptive public health crisis, the consequences have been disproportionate for the global travel tourism industry. 

The novel coronavirus pandemic has once again highlighted that even while travel and tourism remains one of the most resilient segments of the global economy; at the same time, it is one of the segments that faces the greatest susceptibility to shocks and disruptive events.

In fact, the threats facing travel and tourism have rapidly intensified over the past two decades and now include both traditional and non-traditional elements including: natural disasters, climate change impacts and bio-diversity loss, food insecurity, political instability and conflicts, the threat of terror attacks, cyber-crime and cyber security issues, economic recessions and indeed epidemics and pandemics, as exemplified by the current crisis.

A UNWTO has described the current pandemic as the worst crisis that international tourism has faced since records began in 1950.  A recent IMF report found that in the first half of 2020, international tourist arrivals fell globally by more than 65 %, compared with 8 % during the global financial crisis and 17 % amid the SARS epidemic of 2003. 

The economic impact includes the loss of between 100-120 million jobs and between $910 million to $1.1 trillion in export revenues. The economic impact of the pandemic on international travel and tourism was disproportionately felt among tourism-dependent countries.

Caribbean tourism-dependent nations lost an estimated 12 % of their GDP in 2020 when compared to 4.4 % global economic contraction over the same period (IMF’S World Economic Outlook, October 2020).

A WTTC estimated that 6 million jobs in the travel and tourism industry and more than US$110 billion in contribution to GDP were lost in Latin America and the Caribbean alone in 2020.

From a national perspective, the Jamaican economy has been hemorrhaging from the sharp decline in tourist arrivals experienced over the past 14 months. 

Pre-crisis, tourism generated direct employment for some 175,000 Jamaicans and indirect employment for over 354,000 Jamaicans.

It was also the single largest contributor to GDP, the main source of foreign revenues and one of the country’s main sources of exports. 

Tourism also drove 15 % of construction, 10 % of banking and finance, 20 % of manufacturing and 21 % of utilities as well as agriculture and fisheries. Overall, the tourism sector grew by 36 % over the past 30 years against total economic growth of 10 %.

However, at the peak of the pandemic, most hotels in Jamaica were operating at an occupancy level of between 15 to 30 %, while the tourism labor force was reduced to 30 % of its regular complement; with those who remained employed being forced to work under conditions of drastically reduced hours and salaries.

The pandemic and the measures designed to tackle it have had dramatic effects on economic activity. Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) projections are that the economy contracted by approximately 10.2% for the calendar year 2020 and 12% for fiscal year ending March 31, 2021.

Este é o maior declínio anual já registrado e foi a primeira contração anual desde 2012. O declínio econômico em 2020/21 foi impulsionado por uma contração maciça de 70% em nossa indústria de turismo.

A pandemia dizimou nossas entradas de divisas provenientes do turismo, que devem cair 74% ou US $ 2.5 bilhões em 2020/21. Novamente, esse nível de precipitação radioativa não tem precedentes em nossa história.

Fortunately, history has shown that tourism is one of the most resilient segments of the global economy. It rebounded quickly from past crises, soaring to new heights in most instances.

This was true of the sector’s recovery following recent disruptive events including: 9/11; the SARS outbreak (2004); the swine flu outbreak (2009); the economic recession (2007); the MERS outbreak (2012) and the Ebola outbreak (2014).

Obviously, the extent of the impact of the current pandemic on tourism dwarfs that of any other recent disruption. Nonetheless, the general principle underpinning the recovery process remains the same: tourism recovery requires strong leadership, government and private sector support, cross-sectoral coordination, the harmonization of mitigation strategies and innovative solutions.

The recovery process must be strategic, coordinated and carefully planned and managed.

To this end, the country has already formed a COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force that has assumed responsibility for charting the country’s strategies for the gradual resumption of business activities.

A five-point plan for the recovery of the tourism sector has also been unveiled   which includes developing robust health and safety protocols, increased training for all segments of the tourism sector, building a safety and security infrastructure, and acquiring PPE and hygiene tools.

Our 88-page tourism COVID-19 health and safety protocols have been recognized by the UNWTO as exemplifying leadership in COVID-19 management within the travel and tourism sector and have helped to ensure that Jamaica remains a safe destination for all visitors who check into local hotels.

Last year, we also introduced the concept of tourism-resilient corridors to enhance the country’s ability to manage and trace the movement of tourists along controlled corridors of the island. 

When the tourism sector was reopened in June of last year, we strategically planned the reopening stages, first requiring travelers to stay on the resort grounds and then giving them the limited freedom to visit attractions within the Resilient Corridors, that were certified by the Tourism Product Development Company, using transportation approved by the Jamaica Tourist Board.

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Avatar de Linda Hohnholz, editora da eTN

Linda Hohnholz, editora da eTN

Linda Hohnholz escreve e edita artigos desde o início de sua carreira profissional. Ela aplicou essa paixão inata a lugares como a Hawaii Pacific University, a Chaminade University, o Hawaii Children's Discovery Center e agora o TravelNewsGroup.

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