CARIBBEAN ISLANDS ALL SET TO REOPEN FOR TOURISM
CASTRIES, STLUCIA/KINGSTON: A cluster of Caribbean islands are reopening this month for international tourism, hoping to burnish their reputations as oases of tranquility after containing their coronavirus outbreaks and implementing strict new public health protocols.
The Caribbean, known for its palm-fringed beaches, turquoise water and colonial towns, is the most tourism-dependent region in the world. The move is a pilot test for other regions planning to restart tourism after pandemicinduced lockdowns.
Antigua and Barbuda, the US. Virgin Islands and St. Lucia are the first to reopen this week. Jamaica and Aruba are set to follow later in the month, with July target dates for the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.
While other tourist hotspots like Greece aim to limit arrivals from countries with high infection rates, the first flights the Caribbean is receiving are from the US, which has the world’s highest number of reported cases.
But local tourism officials say they have little choice. Americans accounted for almost half the Caribbean’s 31.5 million visitors last year.
“What are we going to wait for? A vaccine? Shut down the country for two years?” Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism minister Charles Fernandez said in an interview.
Instead, the islands reopening will conduct health screening, including temperature checks upon arrival, and require or encourage the use of face masks in public spaces.
They are divided though over whether to test - as recommended by the Caribbean Public Health Agency - because of cost, reliability and availability concerns. Without testing, asymptomatic visitors could be a risk.
Antigua and Barbuda will conduct a rapid coronavirus test of visitors upon arrival, said Fernandez.
St. Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet told Reuters it would require a certificate for a negative coronavirus test conducted in the 48 hours before departure.
It remains unclear if this would work, given tests are not widely available on demand in the US. Concerns remain over reopenings in countries that do not require testing of arrivals, like Jamaica.
“People should object, as should anyone who has done what they have done to flatten the curve of new cases,” said civil rights advocate Carol Narcisse, noting Jamaica has warned of a likely new rise in cases.