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The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), asserting that the Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world, has urged member states to integrate health practices into the tourism industry.
According to CARPHA, this would enable a more sustainable and resilient Caribbean travel and tourism sector as the region continues to face many external shocks.
The regional health agency said these shocks included the performance of the global economies, natural disasters, and most recently, major health threats.
CARPHA’s remarks came in a statement marking World Tourism Day on Tuesday.
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“In the Caribbean, we recognize that the health of Caribbean economies is closely related to the health of its travel and tourism industry given that the Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world,” the statement observed.
CARPHA referred to the ongoing COVID-19pandemic.
And the organisation noted that the pandemic had demonstrated the critical necessity for health in tourism.
“It was propelled by travel, devastating tourism, resulting in economic instability and threatening regional health security in the Caribbean,” CARPHA recalled.
“Health must be intertwined into Caribbean tourism to promote sustainable tourism and thereby, sustainable economies, social and economic well-being,” the regional health agency declared.
It observed that in keeping with CARPHA’s mandate, the agency’s Regional Tourism and Health Programme (THP) was developed.
THP aims to strengthen regional and national health systems and enhance the health of visitor and resident populations by seeking to address the health, safety, and environmental sanitation threats to tourism.
CARPHA said the programme is elevating Caribbean tourism by building traveller’s confidence and supporting CARPHA Member States in reinstating healthier, safer travel to the Caribbean, during COVID-19 and as the pandemic changes its trajectory.
Headline photo: Stock image
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