Vaccinate SIDS to kickstart tourism recovery, urges UNWTO

The UNWTO is calling for the international community to show solidarity with SIDS (small island developing states) by ensuring they have access to Covid-19 vaccinations.

With tourism a leading employer and economic pillar for many of the SIDS, the UN agency has stressed that pledges to ensure ‘nobody is left behind’ in the recovery phase of the crisis must be backed up with firm actions.

Sharing vaccines with SIDs can help speed up tourism recovery: UNWTO; St. John’s, city and capital of Antigua and Barbuda, one of the 38 SIDs, pictured 

Given the relatively small size of the populations of the SIDS, the cost of mass vaccinations will be minimal compared to the potential benefits of restarting tourism, UNWTO said in a statement. It added that given tourism’s wide value chain and proven ability to create opportunity for all, the impact of rolling out mass vaccinations and allowing tourism to restart, will go beyond economic benefits.

UNWTO secretary-general Zurab Pololikashvili said: “By sharing vaccines with SIDS, the international community can help accelerate the restart of tourism in these leading destinations. Due to the size of the populations of the SIDS, the cost of mass vaccinations will be small, but the benefits will be significant. It will restore confidence in visiting SIDS, allowing the many social and economic benefits of tourism to return.”

Pololikashvili was speaking after a meeting with Dario Item, ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to Spain, at the UNWTO headquarters in Madrid. One of the 38 SIDS, Antigua and Barbuda is a top tourism destination and is looking to the restart of tourism to protect businesses and jobs and economic growth at both the national and local level.

According to UNWTO data, prior to the start of the pandemic, tourism accounted for more than 30 per cent of total exports in the majority of the 38 SIDS. In some countries, this proportion has risen as high as 90 per cent. The significance of tourism makes these destinations especially vulnerable to falling tourist numbers, making the timely restart of the sector of vital importance, concluded UNWTO.

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