Caribbean tourism recovery punctured by new coronavirus spike - Reuters

KINGSTON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Just as tourism was beginning to show signs of recovery, the Caribbean has been hit by a new wave of coronavirus infections that is causing lockdowns and flight cancellations and overwhelming hospitals.

Countries including Jamaica, Martinique, The Bahamas, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Dominica have seen a rise in cases fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant and a relaxation of earlier restrictions. Misinformation spread on social media has also contributed to a low vaccine uptake.

The Caribbean is one of the regions most dependent on tourism, with nine countries in the world's top 20, according to an index compiled by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Many experienced double-digit declines in gross domestic product (GDP) growth when COVID-19 struck, drying up tourism dollars, destroying jobs and hurting their balance of payments.

Since the latest wave of COVID-19 hit Dominica and the government ordered a lockdown - now lifted - business has been slow for Nahgie Laflouf, operations manager for adventure company Extreme Dominica on the island of some 70,000 people.

"Things are gone back a bit quiet," said Laflouf, who takes tourists hiking and rafting among Dominica's lush forests and waterfalls. "They had started to pick up before the spike."

In August, there were four or five tours, when they might have had three times that before the COVID jump, Laflouf said.

The outbreak has prompted governments to impose restrictions including...



Read Full Story: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/caribbean-tourism-recovery-punctured-by-new-coronavirus-spike-2021-09-03/

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