Distinguished Co-Chairs,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Panelists,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today’s discussion is the second in a series of Global SIDS Partnerships Webinars, organized under the auspices of the SIDS Partnerships Framework. It is an integral part of the UN Steering Committee on SIDS Partnership’s approved Work Programme for 2020.
I commend the Co-chairs for their choice of topic and efforts in organizing this Event. Tourism is the economic life blood for most SIDS. This event provides a practical platform to exchange experiences, best practices and lessons learnt, among SIDS and their sustainable development partners. The collective aim is to encourage the formation of new, genuine and durable partnerships for recovery of the tourism sectors in SIDS.
Excellencies,
As we speak, COVID-19 continues to rage, sparing no region, and threatening to inflict the worst recession since the Great Depression. It has plunged the world into an acute health and economic crisis, the severity of which has not been seen in nearly a century.
The pandemic has exacerbated the vulnerability of SIDS, and the inequalities within and among countries. And it has caused an unprecedented disruption in international tourism. International tourist flows have fallen dramatically, and destinations that rely on the sector for jobs, economic wellbeing and foreign exchange, such as small islands, will be hit the hardest.
On average, tourism accounts for almost 30 percent of GDP of most SIDS. This share is over 50 percent for the Maldives, Seychelles, St. Kitts and Nevis and Grenada. Tourism is also a prime source of employment in SIDS. Its multiplier effects are felt through hotels, resorts, restaurants, transport, retail, and agriculture. Women are also more likely to be entrepreneurs in tourism, than in other sectors of the economy.
National and regional SIDS airlines – which are the essential conduit for tourism to these far-flung islands, and other tourism dependent enterprises – are also facing significant damage from prolonged loss of revenue. Revenue losses, reduced operations and global travel restrictions, could mean diminished tourism even after the virus recedes.
Excellencies,
The global collapse in international tourism has exposed the economic vulnerability of SIDS. For many SIDS, this shock has the potential to develop into a massive loss of jobs and a sharp decline in foreign exchange and tax revenues. This in turn will diminish public spending capacity, which affects the ability of governments to deploy necessary measures to support livelihoods through the crisis. Thus adding to already severe debt pressures.
We should not underestimate seriousness of this crisis.
In conclusion, let us strengthen the long-standing cooperation and partnership to assist SIDS in their efforts to respond to the pandemic, and to fortify their sustainable development efforts.
I look forward to today’s discussion, to hear your views on how, we can together, map our way forward.