by CCB Caribbean Economics Team
CCB’s Caribbean Economics Team is pleased to send the seventh Issue of the Caribbean Region Quarterly Bulletin.
It analyzes recent economic developments of The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Special Country Reports consider trends in tourism, and policy options for the sector. For Guyana, the report examines one of this country’s main sources of external income: remittances from citizens living abroad. For Suriname, the report discusses options for establishing fiscal discipline and attracting private sector participation in the country’s development amid increasing expectations. The Bulletin also includes a section on recent developments in the countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
Travel and tourism directly accounts for almost 30 percent of GDP in the CARICOM countries, by far the largest sector in most countries. However the global landscape for the sector has become more competitive and traditional source markets for the Caribbean are less dynamic.
The report discusses some ideas for the Caribbean to take on this challenge through diversification, namely, through the creation of new market niches, improved airlift, and the reorientation of supply toward emerging markets. It also analyzes the economic viability of an IDB project to bring new visitors from Brazil (the so-called “Brazil air bridge”).
The next issue will be released in April 2014.
We welcome your comments and feedback. Please send to the Caribbean Economics Team: [email protected].
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