Published on : Friday, March 13, 2020
Several agents are recommending Caribbean islands as alternatives to COVID-19-impacted regions. “Depending on their interests or travel goals, we’ve tried to shift to similar experiences [by] moving multi-gen families from Tuscan estates to Caribbean villas, replacing a French Riviera stay for a St. Barth’s getaway and swapping Croatia island-hopping for yachting around the BVIs,” said Samantha Collum of River Oaks Travel Agency.
Caribbean destinations are also increasingly becoming an option for West Coast-based travelers said Vicki Lundy-Wells, owner of Carefree Travel.
Lundy-Wells warned that agents need to stay updated on the recent outbreaks in the region. “Clients are paying close attention and expect travel advisors to be informed and knowledgeable,” she said.
While no cases have originated in the region, a few Caribbean islands are dealing with those residents and visitors who have contracted COVID-19 elsewhere. Jamaica’s minister of health and wellness has confirmed the island’s first COVID-19 case, a Jamaican woman who had returned to Kingston on March 4 from a United Kingdom trip. The patient has since been in isolation.
Authorities “dispatched health team to the home of the patient for assessment and initiation of public health measures,” said Dr. Christopher Tufton, Jamaica’s health and wellness minister.
Earlier this month, Dominican Republic officials reported the country’s first COVID-19 case, a tourist visiting from Italy. Meanwhile the Cayman Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia, have not reported any COVID-19 case.
The destinations have also placed travel restrictions on non-nationals with travel histories including visits to COVID-19 impacted regions.
With no reported cases, hoteliers in a major Caribbean destination said that they’re feeling a COVID-19 chill. Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) members have suffered “a significant decline in business as an effect of the virus, said Stephen Austin, the group’s chairman.
“It is quite significant and we are working now on an emergency plan through the BHTA to try to help our members through this time,” Austin said.
Tags: Coronavirus, Covid-19