Pandemic to deliver 'unprecedented' blow to tourism in Latin America
Pandemic to deliver 'unprecedented' blow to tourism in Latin America

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has warned in a new report that COVID-19 will deliver an "unprecedented blow" to tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to their report, they had weighed the COVID-19 pandemic against six historical negative scenarios (such as the Ebola outbreak, the September 11, 2001 attacks), and concluded that "no historical precedent that came close to the shock that the current pandemic delivers to tourism.

" The IDB's warn that tourism in the region could slump between 40 and 70 percent this year.

The new study highlights how the region contains some of the world's most tourism-dependent economies.

The IDB is concerned by the economic fallout that lay ahead.

The study warns that Latin American and Caribbean countries are likely to suffer more than most from the pandemic, picking out Aruba, Antigua, and the Bahamas in particular.

The Caribbean plays host to 14 of the 15 most tourism-dependent economies in the world.

According to the reports, the large economy in the region will hit hard.

Tourism in Mexico, for example, was responsible for 16 percent of total economic activity and employment between 2014 and 2018.

In Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, tourism represents around 10 percent of employment and economic activity, while in Brazil, the figure is eight percent.

"Even for larger and more diversified economies, the net impact on activity could still lead to contractions on a scale that is not often the case," said IDB researcher, Maria Alejandra Zegarra.

The video was filmed July 3, 2020.