ROSEAU – Dominica recorded a significant decline in tourist arrivals since the re-opening of its borders in July, and blamed the situation on the ongoing impact caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The chief executive officer of Discover Dominica, and the Director of Tourism, Colin Piper, speaking on the state-owned DBS radio said that an estimated 4 000 persons had visited the island during the five month period.
“Since we opened the borders July 15th I think we have seen about 4 100 people come into the island. We used to do that in half a month, three quarters of a month. In February we did 9 000 people,” he said, noting that February is a peak month because of the Carnival activities, as well as October, when the island stages its Cadence Music Festival.
Piper said 4 000 people since July “is low and we are at a decline of about 70 to 75 per cent of visitor arrivals into Dominica and we have looked at our competitors as well and they are in mid 60’s to high 70’s in decline as well.
“So this pandemic is impacting all of us in terms of visitor arrivals into our destinations but we do need to understand that in the Caribbean we do offer a ray of sunshine and hope because we seem to be handling the pandemic a little bit better than some of the first world nations.
“People are still looking to come to the Caribbean, and we just need to make sure that when they think of the Caribbean they think of Dominica,” he added. (CMC)
