SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG--In an official World Tourism Day message by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), St. Maarten-based CHTA President Emil Lee stressed that tourism’s impact on the Caribbean is proportionally far greater than the 10 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and six percent of exports cited by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), concerning global tourism contribution figures.

“Tourism continues to present the greatest opportunity for the countries throughout the Caribbean to create jobs, generate tax revenue, and spawn new locally-owned businesses,” Lee said.

His comments were underscored by UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai, who stated that tourism has demonstrated its capacity to increase competitiveness, create job opportunities, stem the rural exodus, generate revenues and reinforce the sense of pride and self-esteem within communities.

The theme for World Tourism Day is “1 Billion Tourists, 1 Billion Opportunities.”

According to the UNWTO, today’s more than one billion annual tourists have made tourism a leading economic sector – contributing 10 percent of GDP and six percent of the world’s total exports.

Lee stressed that tourism’s impact on the Caribbean is proportionally far greater. Relative to its size, out of 12 tourism regions throughout the world, the Caribbean ranks number one globally in the relative importance which tourism has on GDP according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Regionally, tourism represents 18.1 per cent of exports. In 2014 the total contribution from tourism to GDP regionally was 14.6 per cent, with some jurisdictions like The Bahamas at 43.6 per cent and the British Virgin Islands as high as 85.9 per cent. Nearly one-third of Jamaica’s GDP is tied to tourism.

CHTA has called for a collaborative effort by the region’s public and private sector leaders toward improving the competitiveness of tourism and attracting more visitors as a means to job creation and debt reduction. CHTA and its counterpart public sector organisation, the Caribbean Tourism Organization, are working together to facilitate a new level of collaboration.