12.4 million job cuts expected

The Word Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) expects a $230 billion worth of losses in the Caribbean and Latin America due to the decimated tourism industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a Reuters report, the president of the WTTC said that the organization expects 12.4 million job cuts and losses in the tourism sector, which is primarily the lifeblood of the Caribbean region.

When the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic in March, countries around the world imposed a number of restrictions to curb the spread of the disease.

To date, there have been 27,973,127 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, including 905,426 deaths, reported to WHO.

The hit from the pandemic would leave the industry in Latin America and the Caribbean barely a third the size it was last year, according to the data from WTTC, the main global forum representing tourism.

Job losses will be of a similar scale. “There is no country that escapes,” WTTC president Gloria Guevara said in an interview with Reuters.

In Mexico, the country that receives the most visitors in Latin America, the tourism sector is expecting to rack up losses worth $129 billion. Almost five million people are expected to lose jobs—this is about 69% of the work force in Mexican tourism.

Worldwide, the pandemic threatens to trigger losses worth $5.5 trillion in tourism and 197.5 million job losses, the WTTC revealed.

Guevara also said that while countries try to open their borders to international travel again, the lack of standardised protocols to manage travel has been contributing to the challenge. This includes issues such as airport testing to give tourists greater confidence and help accelerate the recovery,

The WTTC expects the tourism industry to be able to bounce back in 18 months, as long as there is a global collaboration and appropriate measures are in place. If not, this struggle could last in three to four years more.

Royal Caribbean CEO joins task force for safe return of Caribbean tourism

Meanwhile, in a report by the Royal Caribbean blog, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley revealed on Thursday that he is co-chairing a task force handling the safe return of cruising to the Caribbean.

At a meeting of the Miami-Dade County Tourism and the Ports Committee, Bayley spoke of the work everyone in Royal Caribbean is doing to get back to cruising, including this Caribbean island task force.

The Americas Cruise Tourism Task Force is co-chaired with the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley. It is made up of over 40 different Caribbean countries.

Weeks after the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic, several cruise lines suspended their operations, including the Royal Caribbean.

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Distributed energy resources can generate job opportunities

Harnessing the wind, solar, and geothermal energy that are abundant in the Caribbean can lead to “near-term job opportunities with lasting impacts,” according to a recent report of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI).

The research report comes as a timely guide to local governments as the region grapples with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, with some islands still recovering from the previous destruction of powerful hurricanes, and are now bracing themselves for the dreaded hurricane season.

The institute, which specializes in energy conservation, suggested that governments of the Caribbean nations should direct their stimulus efforts on the energy sector opportunities, as well as adopt energy-efficiency measures, such as integrating electric vehicles.

The high unemployment rates caused by the pandemic can be slowly addressed when authorities turn to the renewable energy sector, as well as indirectly in associated industries. Such jobs include, but not limited to: project managers, electricians, civil engineers, electrical and mechanical engineers, plumbers, machinists, heavy equipment operators, technicians, metal workers, general construction workers, designers and salespeople.

There are also community-level job opportunities that can be provided through investing in initial energy access for those communities that do not yet enjoy reliable electricity.

Investing in renewable energy can also be helpful to the agriculture sector in the region. Such can help improve farmers’ yields, minimize crop wastage through enhanced access to refrigeration in newly electrified communities. It will also encourage profitability, enhance increased business expansion, create new jobs, and in some cases enable expansion to new markets.

Most importantly, RMI stressed in their report that the countries that will benefit the most in this endeavor are those that still have low rates hen it comes to access to electricity.

Some Caribbean communities still struggle with access to electricity

While most Caribbean countries have reached full electricity access, or have reached more than 90% electrification, some communities remain without access to electricity, particularly those located in remote or rural areas, and in some cases with predominantly indigenous populations.

One country is Haiti. With a population of more than 11 million people, it remains the only country in the Western Hemisphere with the lowest access to electricity. The country’s grid infrastructure is inefficient and overwhelmed and, like other countries in the region, Haiti is heavily dependent on imported fuel for power generation.

Funds aligned to support more rapid progress on electrification in Haiti will be critical to helping it address its many power needs and support progress across many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Other Caribbean countries that still are not fully electrified include Belize, with an electrification rate of 99% and Guyana, which has a current electrification rate of 91%.

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