THE Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) has touted the building of resilience for small tourism enterprises (STEs) in the Caribbean as fundamental to the region’s recovery from the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic and other future crises.

Speaking ahead of an Organization of American States (OAS) sponsored high-level gathering of Caribbean tourism leaders held July 20-21 to focus on examining business continuity planning to accelerate recovery from disasters, CHTA President Nicola Madden-Greig underscored the viability of STEs as critically important.

“The challenges to post-disaster business continuity of STEs in the Caribbean are many and varied. STEs can take more than two years to recover financially from a disaster, so we must find ways to help them get back on their feet sooner and with healthy working capital and strong business development possibilities,” she said.

The OAS-staged event, held at the Jamaica Inn in Montego Bay over the two days, saw attendees exploring the issue of capacity and resilience building for regional STEs against disasters. Following a review of the cases of over 500 enterprises, stakeholders also put forward recommendations which they believe could help to accelerate recovery in the event of future crises.

According to Pablo González, principal specialist and chief of the Risk Management and Adaptation to Climate Change Program of the OAS, the event will also aid the enhancement of public and institutional policies geared towards the building of resilience, with the ultimate goal of reducing business interruptions. The launch of a model post-disaster ‘Open for Business Guide’ developed by The University of the West Indies (UWI) — an OAS project partner, to help build STE resilience was also discussed.

“Research indicates that initiatives such as more targeted STE training, marketing and public relations education, contingency planning and tax incentives are measures that can be taken by both the public and private sectors to help STEs emerge less harmed from disasters and crisis situations,” González said.

The CHTA in its continued preparedness of the sector and its operators this week also said that registrations for its 40th edition of the Caribbean Travel Marketplace (CTM) event slated to take place in Puerto Rico from October 3-5 this year were already outpacing expectations, as anticipation swells for the event which usually promotes regional businesses including STEs.

Returning to in person format since the pandemic, the event is set to host Caribbean suppliers and buyers from all over the globe, as they converge to showcase and benefit from the region’s tourism offerings.

“The Caribbean is still one of the world’s most desirable destinations and we are looking forward to the convergence of buyers and sellers of Caribbean tourism to advance the region’s recovery,” stated CTM chair Karen Whitt.