The Caribbean Tourism Organization is projecting a 20 percent increase in tourism arrivals in 2021, the Barbados-based agency said this week. 

That comes after the Caribbean saw a 65 percent reduction in arrivals in 2020 due to the pandemic. 

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

“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,” the CTO said in a its 2020 tourism performance report for the region.

“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 amid the pandemic, the Caribbean’s 65.5 percent decline in tourist arrivals was better than the global tourism decline, which was nearly 74 percent. 

— CJ