Ensuring the resilience of small tourism businesses is essential to the Caribbean’s recovery, according to the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association. 

“The challenges to post-disaster business continuity of STEs in the Caribbean are many and varied,” said Nicola Madden-Greig, Jamaican hotelier and leader of the CHTA. “STEs can take more than two years to recover financially from a disaster so we must find ways to help them get back on their feet sooner and with healthy working capital and strong business development possibilities.”

Madden-Greig was speaking ahead of an upcoming OAS gathering on business continuity planning to accelerate recovery from natural disasters. 

The event is being hosted by the Jamaica Ministry of Tourism at the Holiday Inn Montego Bay Resort on July 20 and 21. 

It will explore how to build disaster resilience for small tourism businesses, reviewing the finding and recommendations from more than 500 small businesses and stakeholders. 

According to Pablo González, Principal Specialist and Chief of the Risk Management and Adaptation to Climate Change Program of the OAS, that can include targeted STE training, marketing and public relations education, contingency planning and tax incentives, among other solutions.