Tourism has been one of the most affected economic sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Caribbean, as the most tourism dependent region in the world, was particularly hard hit. Travel & Tourism Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines declined 67 per cent in 2020. A large percentage of the unemployed in the tourism sector would have been women in the accommodation and food service sub-sectors (approximately 54.9% of women in the labour force have been employed in these sub-sectors). The eruption of the La Soufrière Volcano in 2021 on mainland Saint Vincent, compounded the pandemic’s effects of depressed tourists’ arrivals. The “FUT-Tourism: Rethinking Tourism and MSMEs in times of COVID-19” project was established by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean in January 2021, to revamp the tourism sector through regional dialogues and policy solutions, and technical and financial assistance for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) within the sector. Through desk research, a tourism MSME focus group and other private sector interviews, the report provides data and compiles information on impacts, current policies, ongoing efforts, needs and opportunities that could have a catalytic impact on the tourism sector in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The report analyses three priority areas that were identified in the UNDP Regional Policy Dialogues:
