Cut-throat competition in tourism post-COVID-19, predicts development consultant

Tourism will become a cut-throat industry in the Caribbean when the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) threat passes, international development consultant Deodat Maharaj told members of the Rotary Club of South East Nassau on Wednesday, adding that The Bahamas might not see the same tourism numbers it did pre-COVID-19.

Maharaj, a Trinidad and Tobago native, said that in the past, Caribbean countries have not been proactive in planning for shocks such as the current global pandemic.

He explained that policymakers often have good intentions that do not go far enough.

“My fear is that five, ten, fifteen years from now, if we have another pandemic, if we have other shocks, we’ll be in the same situation we are now…reacting and not being prepared to deal with it,” Maharaj said.

“I don’t think it is going to work for The Bahamas. We know the challenges that our economies face. In the case of The Bahamas, it is heavily tourism-based. Your minister of finance said in the worst case scenario you would have close to 100 percent of your cruise visitors not coming in the next several months and 80 percent of your visitors who come by air.

“My own view is the cruise industry will be in a state of limbo for the rest of the year.”

Maharaj said the tourism product of The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean will have to depend on niche markets and highly skilled people. He mentioned medical tourism and health tourism among those niche offerings.

“You need to think about your product as you go forward,” he said.

“Mass tourism is not going to be the same and you’re going to be competing with cut-throat competition from many other countries in the region who rely on tourism.”

Maharaj added that The Bahamas and the Caribbean nations will have to pay much more attention to agriculture to withstand more shocks in the future.

“It is impossible for Caribbean people to build resilience if we continue to relegate agriculture to the back waters,” he said.

“Agriculture continues to receive the least amount of sectoral allocations in national budgets.”

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/04/24/cut-throat-competition-in-tourism-post-covid-19-predicts-development-consultant/