The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted tourism more than any other industry. While people everywhere have been instructed to stay home, lock down and even quarantine to stem the spread of the virus, in the places most dependent on visitors, people have watched their primary source of income dry up. This is particularly true in the Caribbean—the most tourism-dependent region in the world.
According to a recent survey conducted by the George Washington University’s International Institute of Tourism Studies (GW IITS) and the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), destination management and marketing organisations must take immediate steps to recover from the economic fallout of COVID-19 and its impact on tourism. Along with crisis management and communications, the Destination Organization Responses to COVID-19 report stresses the need for CTO member countries to find additional sources of funding for destination organizations in order to withstand future crises.
As Seleni Matus, Executive Director of the International Institute of Tourism Studies urged, “It’s essential that destination organisations act now to work with local governments and businesses to find ways to create public and private partnerships that will benefit all parties involved, from hotels, tour operators and restaurants to local residents and tourists—immediate investment is urgently needed.”
The main findings of the survey indicate that COVID-19 had affected the financial health of the tourism organizations; nearly all of those polled either had already experienced or anticipated cuts to their operating budgets. “This is an ominous signal,” concludes the report.
“This study brings into sharp focus the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the very institutions that will likely be tasked with leading the recovery of the tourism sector at the national level,” noted Faye Gill, Director of Membership Services for the CTO. “It will be critical that the tourism recovery plans take into consideration the resourcing of the destination organizations to adequately meet the demands that will define this period.”
The report called for advocacy on behalf of the destination organizations for financial support in order to remain strong and help to lead tourism’s recovery and rebuilding efforts. It also said these entities would have to find creative ways to do more with less, especially with regards to marketing.
“Moving forward, destination organizations will need to consider how to diversify their funding sources, which are mainly based on lodging and cruise taxes, to ensure that they can withstand future COVID-19 waves and future shocks to the tourism industry,” GW IITS recommended.
Despite these financial constraints, most respondents had not reduced their employment levels and do not foresee having to do so. “The commitment that the destination organizations’ showed to their employees throughout the pandemic is commendable," said Gill. "Even in the face of reduced budgets, the majority managed to keep their teams intact.”
At the same time, the report recommended that the tourism organizations needed to remain vigilant and advocate for continued support to tourism businesses. “Without sustained financial assistance, tourism enterprises that are operating at less than full capacity will be challenged to remain in business through 2020,” the report said.
The online survey, designed and analyzed by GW IITS students, was disseminated in mid-May amongst CTO’s 24 member countries. The GW IITS also inventoried tourism destination actions from mid-March to early May on mobility, economic relief, destination management and community support, crisis communication and destination marketing.
The university reviewed the websites and social media channels of various destination marketing organizations, industry associations and destination websites to better understand the tourism industry’s response to COVID-19, and compiled data on mobility and economic relief from various secondary sources. Forty-three countries in the greater Caribbean, including CTO’s 24 member countries, were included in this phase of the research.
Interested in learning more? Check out this podcast featuring GW IITS Executive Director Seleni Matus and CTO Communications Specialist Johnson Johnrose discussing the report’s main findings. Download the full report here.
