According to tourism officials, the Caribbean tourism industry faces significant future threats related to both competitiveness and climate change impacts.
The tourism industry is the key economic driver and largest provider of jobs in the Caribbean after the public sector. Caribbean tourism broke new ground in 2016, surpassing 29 million arrivals for the first time and once again growing faster than the global average.
Visitor expenditures also hit a new high, growing by an estimated 3.5% to reach 35.5 billion dollars. And the the outlook for 2017 remains rosy, with expected increases of 2.5 and 3.5% in long-stay arrivals and between 1.5% and 2.5% in cruise passenger arrivals.
This is an excerpt from an article first published by The Wire. Read the original article here: The Caribbean Islands are looking to climate-proof their tourism industry.Â
