Tourism Ministry says projected economic fallout from COVID-19 underscores need to reopen sector

"I think what it means in part though is that tourism is a lot more interconnected than many people had assumed. People seem to lose sight of the fact that our tourism industry, the linkages have been deepening over the years, which is also a good thing for Jamaica, in terms of our manufacturing linkages, our agricultural linkages, insurance, banking, construction, transportation, the whole works...  But yes, it also means that we must at all times continue to develop other options as it relates to our economy. But the fact is tourism has the biggest potential for growth," he asserted. 

 

Mr. Seiveright said there remains concern that the major source market, the United States, is recording increased cases of COVID-19, which will delay the full return of the local tourism sector.

 

"We do hope though that as the months go by and as remedies are found as it relates to COVID-19, hopefully a vaccine maybe next year, that things will improve dramatically. But for now we are slowly growing, albeit very slowly - a lot of hotels remain closed for the summer - but the hope is that by November, by December we're going to see appreciable growth in tourism numbers," he said. 

 

In the meantime, Mr. Seiveright said the Tourism Ministry's marketing strategy to attract visitors, going into next year, will be unchanged, in the hope that "within a year or so, tourism will come back...to the numbers that we had pre-COVID-19."

 

Opposition Spokesman on Tourism Dr. Wykeham McNeill is focusing on the recovery support that the United Nations says is needed in the sector.

 

UNCTAD calls for strengthened social protection for tourism dependent communities and protection for workers. 

 

It says where some enterprises are unlikely to recover, wage subsidies should be designed to help workers move to new industries.

 

According to Dr. McNeill, it is very important for the government to use the COVID-19 crisis to fix these weaknesses in the Jamaican industry.

 

He pointed out that the soon-to-be implemented Tourism Workers Pension Scheme is one step in this direction, however an unemployment insurance is needed "because too many workers who we have working in the industry are living on the edge, so the minute that you have a problem and they lose their job or leave their job, there is no buffer."