Tourism’s Recovery in the Caribbean

As travelers in the U.S. looked for a pandemic getaway this past holiday season, the Caribbean was a popular destination in mind. Meanwhile, many Caribbean countries saw the season as a chance to make up for lost time and recover much-needed revenue after the pandemic dealt a loss to tourism and their once-thriving economy. Most countries in the Caribbean are incredibly reliant on tourism, which in 2019 accounted for up to 26 percent of total GDP and up to 80 percent of employment in some countries. Even despite major hurricanes that frequently disrupt travel to these islands, the region has economically recovered every time due to tourist demand. However, the pandemic has given the region a new challenge – Caribbean countries cannot rely on tourist demand alone as many people are still reluctant to travel. Governments had hoped that in 2021, widespread coronavirus vaccines and a safe policy for visitors would prevent further spread and make up for lost revenue in the region. While cruises and tourists have slowly returned to the Caribbean, the Omicron surge during the lucrative holiday season hampered the return to form that many had hoped.

The Dominican Republic has tried to adapt by attracting U.S tourists with lower thresholds to entry compared to other Caribbean countries. In 2021, their government’s unorthodox approach emphasized that tourist-facing workers be vaccinated as opposed to visitors, who do not need to be vaccinated nor obtain a negative test. In fact, many guests even chose to not wear masks in the hotels. Despite the burden, this placed on  Dominican citizens, the policy brought a major boost to the economy and returned the country to pre-pandemic levels of growth. While the policy was an economic success, Dominicans have seen repercussions due to their lenient policy on visitor vaccinations. Omicron’s untimely surge during the holiday season caused a jump in the island’s number of COVID cases in late December, reaching a peak of about 7,000 per day on January 12. In response to the high volume of cases and overloaded hospitals, healthcare workers are pushing for vaccination requirements for visitors, arguing that the current policy is “discriminatory.” Although the Dominican Republic’s COVID numbers have since declined, the Omicron surge serves as a warning about the dangers of opening up too soon.

Many countries had to balance putting their citizens’ safety over their own economic health and market share of tourism – losing out on visitors now can mean fewer people will consider visiting in the future– so countries need to adopt different policies for welcoming visitors back. One trend for countries like Mexico and the Bahamas saw a rise in tourists due to their proximity to the United States and relative popularity compared to other destinations, but have also witnessed a parallel rise in cases. Some Caribbean governments have tried to make their islands more appealing to tourists by investing heavily in new hotels, airport terminals, and initiatives for remote-work vacations, hoping visitors will see the islands as “pandemic escapes” in the coming years. But others in the region, like Dominica and the Cayman Islands, are less known and less accessible islands. These islands continue to struggle despite having new connections to U.S airports, as tourists prefer more familiar or safer destinations with greater CO. Many of these countries don’t expect a return to pre-pandemic levels of tourism until 2023 at the earliest. 

Policies alone will not allow the region to fully recover. Although U.S. travelers are coming to the islands, visitors from Canada, Europe, and Asia have yet to arrive due to steeper reluctance to travel long distances for a vacation, continued travel restrictions, and steep re-entry restrictions upon returning home, making it hard to plan a vacation to the islands. Additionally, many smaller island nations rely on revenue from cruises, an industry hit hard by the pandemic as cruise companies like Royal Caribbean continue to cancel voyages due to pandemic concerns. Cruises have historically aided in the region’s economic recovery after nearly every hurricane season, bringing in flocks of tourists. But cruise lines have canceled voyages due to COVID outbreaks and generally struggled to recover from the pandemic. Without a robust cruise industry, Caribbean islands are at a loss on how to compensate for this huge loss of income. 

One case that highlights the significance of the Caribbean’s current lack of tourists in Cuba. Prior to the pandemic, Cuba was just beginning to open up tourism to the United States, but after flight reductions, heavy entry restrictions for COVID, and economic sanctions, Cuba’s tourism industry completely shut down. As a country increasingly reliant on tourism in recent years, the loss led to an economic crisis like many others in the region, further exacerbated by U.S. sanctions. Instead of focusing on revitalizing its economy first, Cuba focused on pandemic safety and launched an effort to fully vaccinate its citizens. Cuba became one of the fastest countries to vaccinate its citizens, and it waited until a healthy majority was vaccinated before opening up to visitors this last November, one of the last Caribbean countries to do so. The country had hoped that pandemic safety would be a draw compared to many other countries in the region. Though the effects of this policy were not immediate (projecting a 92 percent loss in tourism), many Cubans are hopeful that the continued, gradual reopening of the world will bring tourists back to the island in the coming years to support its recovery.  Others in the region, like Trinidad, have followed Cuba’s strategy and opened their borders around the same time in late 2021. However, Cuba’s imposed sanctions combined with slow travel pushed them to take the safest reopening approach in the region. Cuba bet on pandemic safety as a tourist draw, but slow travel growth is hindering their recovery strategy and prolonging economic hardships. 

Each Caribbean country has taken a unique approach to economic recovery best suited to their situation – but, because of a continued lag in tourism from the pandemic, all of the islands are itching for tourists to return. Despite the pandemic’s setbacks, Jamaica’s tourism minister stated that many countries are “anxious for normality” having witnessed other countries in the region open up. The Caribbean has stood out for its impressive recovery, faster than any other region in the world since 2020. Many countries are optimistic about their recovery or have already returned to pre-pandemic levels of visitors. While these countries are doing the best they can to attract tourists, it is vital that the tourism industry completely recovers in order for the Caribbean to rebound in a post-pandemic world.

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