Stop blaming tourists for COVID-19 spike - Tourism stakeholders warn that another border closure would wipe out the industry critical to the economy

WESTERN BUREAU:

Another closure of the Jamaican gateway to tourists would spell economic ruin, tourism stakeholders are predicting.

Their concerns stem from the spike in the COVID-19 cases and the blame being placed on the industry.

“There has been no known transmission of the virus from tourists staying within the Tourism Resilient Corridors (TRC) and the local population,” chairman of the TRC committee, John Byles, told The Sunday Gleaner.

Not denying that there have been positive COVID-19 cases among tourists, he said those persons were successfully quarantined in hotel isolation rooms as per the COVID-19 protocols and all have departed the country without incidence of spread to staff or other guests.

Byles, one of two signatories to a 1,600-word letter to the press on Friday, hopes to dispel references made across the media landscape singling out the sector for being one, if not the main, cause of the spike.

“The continuation of this narrative runs counter to the facts,” he stated, adding that people have gone as far as to insinuate that sector players applied undue pressure on the Government to reopen the borders.

“Reopening of our international gateways is a sore point for some, but to reasonable persons among us, of which there are many, they understand full well that keeping our international gateways closed would spell certain economic ruin for our country and untold personal hardship,” Byles explained.

It is no secret that Jamaica depends on tourism for 50 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings and employs directly and indirectly up to 350,000 workers at all levels, including taxi drivers, tour guides, housekeepers, bartenders, waiters, divers, lifeguards, supervisors, managers, shopping agents, craft traders, roadside food vendors, and so much more.

For the four months that the island’s airports were closed to commercial travel, Byles said the economic damage done to the country’s economy, as well as to the hundreds of small, medium and large tourism businesses across the island comprising hotels, attractions, tourist transportation, craft vendors, and shopping, when tabulated, is expected to be in the billions of dollars.

Between land-based and cruise arrivals, Jamaica was expected to hit the four-million arrival target and eclipse its previous US$4.4 billion income before the pandemic. It is estimated that the country would have earned some US$5 billion. However, COVID-19 decimated all that.

EXTREME HARDSHIP

Byles’ counterpart Omar Robinson, president of the Jamaica Hotel & Tourist Association, was even more pronounced when he described the impact that the closure of the ports has had on the livelihood of the nation.

“About 250,000 of our sector workers remain off the job and continue to endure extreme financial and emotional hardships,” revealed Robinson, explaining that since the restart of international arrivals on June 15, only about 40 per cent of the country’s hotels and villas have been able to reopen their doors.

“This includes hotel companies with several hotels in Jamaica that have had to keep some of their properties closed because, while we have gladly restarted the sector, the arrivals have been tracking at about 25 per cent of what it would normally be.”

Robinson did not mince his words when he noted that not enough people have really considered the immediate, much less the long-term effect of the loss of tourism’s earning to the country.

“Already we are seeing the run on our foreign exchange rates, mainly due to the lack of tourism inflows. Even if you are not directly connected to tourism, you should know that the fuel, food, electricity, and supplies and much more of what you consume is 50 per cent (US$4 billion) paid for by the foreign currency brought in by tourism.”

Robinson warns that the foreign exchange shortage could lead to even more pain, as companies become hard-pressed to pay their bills and are ultimately forced to raise their prices.

Up to Friday, Jamaica recorded 2,964 COVID-19 cases and 30 deaths; 922 persons have recovered. The country is now at community transmission.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com