Photo: ©Svetlana Özkaya/123rf

In 2021, the Caribbean Tourism Organization is foretelling a 20 percent rise in tourism arrivals.

That comes after the Caribbean witnessed a 65 percent drop in tourist arrivals in 2020 due to Covid-19.

That 20 percent forecast will probably be accompanied by a similar rise in visitor expenditure, the CTO said.

To quote the CTO, “The Caribbean’s performance in 2021 will depend largely on the success of the authorities in the marketplace and the region in combatting, containing and controlling the virus. Already, there are some encouraging signs like the vaccine roll-out taking place in North America, Europe and the Caribbean.”

“However, this must be tempered by some other factors such as: lockdowns in our key source markets which are expected to continue into the second quarter, international travel confidence not expected to pick up until the summer 2021, a steep fall in the number of people planning to travel abroad and the possible requirement by the authorities in our key markets for their citizens to vaccinate before traveling abroad.”

Even in the middle of Covid -19, the 65.5 percent drop in Caribbean’s tourist arrivals was quite improved than the world decline in tourism which was almost 74 percent.