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Risky business of tourism location

The vulnerability of tourism to risk, crisis and disaster has long been evident. History in fact showed that the industry had been affected by a range of disasters: biological, man-made, technological and disastrous natural occurrences, several of which are indelibly printed in the minds of tourism stakeholders world over.

The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 left more than 3,500 tourist casualties, and an estimated overall death toll that surpassed 280,000. Such devastation was referred to as “the greatest catastrophe ever recorded in the history of world tourism.”

No region on the globe is immune from the risk of a disaster. The Greater Caribbean is visited by the precursors of disaster every year in the form of tropical storms and hurricanes.

The location of the territories makes their vulnerability to certain natural hazards inevitable. The Caribbean lies in the North Atlantic Ocean, one of the six main tropical areas of the Earth where hurricanes may develop from June to December every year.

Several of the islands of the Eastern Caribbean are volcanic in origin. The only known submarine volcano in the region—Kick ’em Jenny—would place Grenada and the rest of the Eastern Caribbean in jeopardy of a tsunami should a major under-water volcanic eruption occur. Many countries in the region lie close to tectonic plate boundaries and the level of seismicity is considered to be moderate to severe; they thus face the threat of earthquakes.

All the countries of the Greater Caribbean are, therefore, to some extent, vulnerable to the impact of geological and hydro-meteorological hazards.

Over the past three decades, the region has made an economic commitment to satisfy international demand for beach vacations by providing a coastal tourism product. The World Bank estimates that the typical tourism development in the Caribbean is located on the coast and is sited within 800 metres from the high water mark.

However, the coastal zone is seen to be in the direct and immediate area of risk, given that hurricanes and tropical storms make landfall with all their force in this area and wind force is likely to be most destructive. The coastal zone is the most low-lying area in Caribbean small island developing states, and as a result prone to coastal flooding due to runoff from mountains.

Over the decades the impact of tropical storms and hurricanes has been significant. In Antigua, Hurricane Georges left six hotels closed; 15 per cent of the 5,800 rooms in the Dominican Republic were damaged. In St Kitts, 500-600 rooms were closed for one month.

More recently, Hurricane Ivan in 2004 destroyed 50 per cent of Grenada’s physical tourism assets, with a total impact on the sector of an estimated EC$264.3 million. In the period January to April 2005, stay-over visitor arrivals declined by 37 per cent and visitor expenditure by 41 per cent compared to the same period in 2004.

In 2005, Wilma, the strongest Atlantic storm ever recorded, wrecked Cancun Cozumel and Playa del Carmen, killed seven people and caused $2.6 billion in damage. Waves five to eight metres (high enough to reach the third floor of many hotels) slammed against the coastline.

In August this year, in Quintana Roo’s Costa Maya region, Hurricane Dean made landfall as a category five storm and a state of emergency was declared and involved the evacuation of some 80,000 tourists.

Hurricane Felix slammed into Nicaragua’s Miskito coast as a category five storm in September, while Hurricane Henriette made a direct hit on the Cabos resorts of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, sending 13-foot (four-metre) waves crashing onto the shores, and killing one tourist walking on the beach.

Amazingly, twin Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes had made landfall on the same day, an unprecedented occurrence; Hurricane Dean had struck Mexico further up the Caribbean coast. Also unprecedented was the fact that two category five hurricanes had made landfall in the same year.

The impact of Hurricane Noel in November this year on the Bahamas made headlines because it cost the popular island destination millions. Yet, despite the numerous risks associated with building on coastlines, tourism plants continue to be built in the hazard-prone area of the Caribbean coast.

Good tourism planning should determine from past experience the optimal approaches to physical planning and to managing a crisis arising out of the passage of a familiar natural event such as a hurricane or earthquake, as well as unfamiliar events such as tsunamis.

n Jasmin Garraway is the sustainable tourism

director of the Association of Caribbean States.

The opinions expressed are not necessarily the

official views of the ACS. Comments and

reactions can be sent to: mail@acs-aec.org