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A guest house in Union Island damaged by the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024. (Photo: Facebook/APISVG)
A guest house in Union Island damaged by the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024. (Photo: Facebook/APISVG)

The tourism sector in St. Vincent and the Grenadines could take at least 23 months to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Beryl on July 1, Minister of Tourism Carlos James told Parliament on Thursday.

“The experts suggest that it takes a minimum of 23 months before we can see full recovery and robust economic activity on a post-natural hazard of that nature,” James told lawmakers during the debate on the EC$136 million supplementary budget that Parliament approved.

James noted that the Southern Grenadines, the part of the country worst affected by Hurricane Beryl, is largely dependent on tourism.

“… the Member for Southern Grenadines made reference to the boat boys in the Tobago Cays — the vendors, employees within the hotel, hotel chains Palm Island, PSV (Petit St. Vincent), on Union Island and Canouan, Mayreau, majority of residents within the southern Grenadines largely dependent on Tourism,” James said.

He said that apart from the repair of homes, to which the government has allocated EC$22 million,  the most important thing that the government can do is to inject resources into SMEs (small and midsize enterprises) directly at the heart of sustainable livelihoods”.

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James noted that the fiscal package included EC$8 million for income support for tourism stakeholders, adding that a further EC$500,000 was allocated to the Promoting Youth Micro Enterprises programme exclusively for Grenadine residents.

The tourism minister further noted that EC$1.5 million was allocated for the rehabilitation of tourism sites across the country. EC$3 million was budgeted to house people who were displaced, particularly women and children.

He said that outside of the supplementary estimates, the government has to look at redirecting resources from the capital budget to support the recovery efforts.

Carlos James
Minister of Tourism, Carlos James speaking in Parliament on Thursday, July 18, 2024.

James said two technical experts from the Caribbean Tourism Organization had wrapped up a rapid assessment of the tourism sector in the Grenadines.

“And from that rapid assessment report, it will inform our decision on how we, as a ministry and all of the stakeholders within the industry, how we move forward to do further assessments.”

The minister said that from next week he intends to have “almost every single officer within the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Authority outsourced into the field to the Southern Grenadines, in Mayreau, Union Island, Canouan, Bequia, to interview and to capture data from the stakeholders within the tourism sector”.

He said that the plan had been to make the trip on Monday, but that was not possible because of the challenges with transportation after the Jaden Sun, an express ferry, developed engine problems.

“We’re hoping we can facilitate alternative transportation arrangements so we can be in the field, supporting our stakeholders and supporting the employees within the tourism sector,” James said.

“We have to hit ground zero, and we have to put the resources in place to support our stakeholders.”

He highlighted a need to implement a tourism disaster management framework in keeping with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction adopted by the United Nations.

“It’s a policy initiative which will focus on how we respond immediately in the aftermath, first, our preparation and our response in the aftermath of natural hazards,” James said. 

He said the government will also examine a sustainable livelihoods framework for tourism, which puts into focus promoting and integrating disaster management approaches within the tourism sector.

“These are two important policy initiatives, which I think is part of our recovery in building resilience,” James said.

“There’s a plethora of guided policies from the UN disaster risk reduction measures that can be implemented from what we’re building out here.”

 The tourism minister said the government believes that apart from rebuilding houses, it is imperative to focus on the tourism industry and the businesses that are related to tourism in the Southern Grenadines.

“Because if that is where the majority of persons within the islands make a living, we have to put the injection in to support and put the resources in to support their recovery and help them to get back on their feet,” James said.