Hurricanes cost Caribbean tourism more than $700 mn: report
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The tourism industry in the Caribbean region attracted almost one million fewer visitors after hurricanes Irma and Maria hit last year, costing it over $700 million, according to an industry study released Monday. “The hurricane season resulted in an estimated (loss) in 2017 of 826,100 visitors to the Caribbean, compared to pre-hurricane forecasts,” said the report by the London-based World Travel & Tourism Council. Those tourists could have spent $741 million and sustained more than 11,000 jobs, it said. With their turquoise waters and coral reefs, Caribbean island destinations rely heavily on tourism, which provides 15.2 percent of the region’s gross domestic product and sustains 14 percent of its labor force, according to the report. Worldwide, the average contribution of tourism to GDP is 10.4 percent. In August and September of 2017, the Caribbean was devastated by two of the fiercest hurricanes ever recorded on the islands. Irma and Maria left a trail of destruction in Barbuda, St Martin/Sint Maarten, St Barts, Anguilla, Cuba, Dominica.
