The Importance of the Regional Tourism and Health Program THP in the Resilience and Recovery to the Travel and Tourism Industry in the Caribbean: A Global Innovative Cooperative International Formula

Travel and tourism is key for the sustainability of Caribbean economies, driving employment and revenue generation for many of the states. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, catalysed by travel, drastically debilitated the Caribbean economies, causing significant economic and job losses, disruptions of crucial services and threatened regional health security. With the unveiled need of integrating health in tourism even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) developed the Regional Tourism and Health Program (THP) with this in mind. The goal of this chapter is to highlight the crucial role of the THP in the recovery of the tourism sector by improving the health and safety of Caribbean people, contributing toward strengthened resilience of Caribbean tourism and the sustainability of its economies. The research seeks to highlight the impact that COVID-19 has had on specific industries core to Caribbean tourism, such as reduced tourist arrivals (via airlines and cruise ships), decline in travel and tourism GDP, closure of tourism business and facilities and increases in unemployment rate. It seeks to address these challenges through various tools and products created by the THP i.e. the utilization of a multifaceted approach - surveillance and response, capacity building, guidelines, policy, standards, advocacy and partnerships, a travellers’ health award and mobile app – and in collaboration with national, regional and international tourism and health stakeholders to addresses health, safety, and environmental sanitation (HSE) threats to tourism whilst bolstering national and regional health systems. Due to COVID-19, the Program has repurposed many of its tools for a more robust response, to boost travellers’ confidence and re-establish healthier, safer return to travel in the Caribbean. This innovative program, the first global effort of its kind, continues to strive toward bolstering sustainable tourism and health security, lending toward improved economic stability in the Caribbean. Through these tools, 7836 persons were trained, 789 businesses were registered on THP’s land-based visitor surveillance system, 1190 alerts on incoming cruise ships were issued to Member States and 108 tourist facilities received the Healthier, Safer Tourism Award. This chapter will discuss the tools within the Program and illustrate how the THP can support the Caribbean’s preparedness and response to COVID-19 and other public health threats and improve the recovery and sustainability of Caribbean tourism.