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The arrival of tourists to Caribbean It fell by 65.5% in 2020 compared to the previous year, a situation caused by covid-19, according to data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization (OTC) released this Tuesday.
The Caribbean received in 2020 about 11 million tourists, compared to the 32 million visits in 2019, which is considered one of the best in recent times.
The information from the OTC highlights that throughout the Caribbean the impact of covid-19 on the travel and tourism industry was very harsh, particularly in the period between April and mid-June, when literally there was no activity in some of the destinations in the region.
The consequence were empty hotels and restaurants, deserted attractions, closed borders, laid off workers and paralyzed cruise lines.
Some destinations remain closed to visitors, with limited air transport, mainly for the repatriation of local people and cargo.
Cruise lines operating in the Caribbean remain idle due to a ban by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Despite the drastic drop in visitors, the figures are better than the world average drop in tourist arrivals of 73.9% during the same period.
The reason that the Caribbean has not suffered so much may be because a significant part of the Caribbean winter season (January to mid-March 2020) saw average levels of tourist arrivals compared to 2019 and that the main season (summer) in other regions coincided with the period in which there were normally very few international travel in the Caribbean area.
Since mid-March, practically no one has visited the Caribbean, until June, when the sector began to reopen.
Regarding cruises, they were favored by the results of the first three months of 2020, in particular the month of February, in which there was an increase of 4.2%.
However, the overall result was a drop of 72% up to 8.5 million cruise ship visits, compared to 30 million visits in 2019.
Visitor spending across the region is estimated to have decreased by 60-80%, in line with the decline in arrivals from stays and cruise ships.
Forecasts are for a 20% increase in tourist arrivals to the Caribbean in 2021, with a similar increase in visitor spending compared to 2020.
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