The 103rd Meeting of the Monetary Council of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) ended last week with assurances of the relative resilience of tourism in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).
“Despite higher fuel prices and weakening global economic growth, Tourism in the ECCU is relatively resilient,” an end of conference Communiqué stated.
According to the Communiqué, although tourism arrivals (stayovers) are still below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, the tourism industry is expected to continue strengthening.
However, it noted that further tourism growth prospects would depend on the impact of any new COVID-19 variants and any other slowdowns in source markets.
“With the further easing of COVID-19 protocols by major cruise lines and ECCU member countries, cruise arrivals are expected to continue increasing in 2022 and 2023,” the end of conference document observed.
It noted that recovery has firmed in the ECCU.
Still, the Communiqué disclosed that the region would continue to grapple with the effects of high inflation and the challenges related to air and sea connectivity.
In addition, the virtual ECCB Monetary Council meeting received information that economic growth for the region is forecasted to be strong in 2022 at 6.4 percent, moderating to 5.9 percent in 2023.
However, the forecast is subject to downside risks in light of the challenging global economic situation.
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