Caribbean tourism has been decimated by COVID-19. But the private sector can cushion the blow

The Caribbean countries of Barbados, Belize and the Bahamas are among the most exposed in the world to the sudden pause in global tourism. “This pandemic shock is unlike any shock that these sovereigns have seen in their history,” said Julia Smith, an analyst at SP Global Ratings. SP expects that tourism in the Caribbean will probably decline by 60-70% from April to December compared with last year. In fact, due to COVID-19, the ratings agency downgraded the Bahamas and Belize this month further to junk status, while lowering the credit outlooks in Aruba, Barbados, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica to negative.