Barbados and the region face the chilling reality that in 20 years, a substantial portion of tourism revenues will be funding the cost of addressing the impact of climate change.This concern was raised by Barbados’ Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary with Responsibility for Climate Change, Small Island Developing States and Law of the Sea, Senator Elizabeth Thompson, who said that the Caribbean tourism sector earns $24 billion annually, contributing a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution of between 17 to 90 per cent across the islands.The ambassador said the tourism sector is responsible for 40 per cent of the job market in the region and that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is projecting that by 2050 the cost of addressing climate impacts for tourism will amount to US$22 million.Senator Thompson presented this analysis on the impact of climate change on the country’s bread and butter industry in remarks to the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc (BTMI) 2nd Visit Barbados Stakeholder forum at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre where tourism players discussed positioning Barbados to be a sustainable tourism destination.
