Caribbean nations that have begun to economically diversify away from tourism should earnestly continue their efforts, and countries that have not yet begun should seek opportunities to do so. This was the call of Caribbean Employment Services Inc. CEO Joseph Boll, who said such efforts are necessary if the region is to truly learn the harsh lessons of the pandemic and strengthen its economic resilience to external shocks.

Caribbean Employment Services Inc. is a market-leading digital talent acquisition service that aims to connect the top talent from the Caribbean with hiring managers, HR professionals and decision-makers in companies both within the Caribbean as well as abroad. Further, it aims to provide the region’s jobseekers and those who are already employed with news and resources related to Caribbean labour.

Boll’s comments come on the heels of a recent report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which found that many countries in the Caribbean and Latin America remain heavily dependent on tourism despite the fact that the industry suffered particularly severe losses as a result of the pandemic.

“COVID brought harsh lessons in the importance of not putting all of your eggs in one economic basket,” Boll said. “Tourism has been the chief breadwinner for a while now, but when it suffered due to the pandemic, it showed just how crippling the impact of relying on it too much could be.”

The CEO noted that countries like Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, The Bahamas and others have invested serious efforts and funding into economic diversification. In particular, several of such countries have looked to become hubs for emerging industries like information technology, cryptocurrency and even green energy.

“Although the region has recovered from the pandemic far faster than anticipated, and although that recovery is going very well, this is not the time to let up on efforts to diversify,” Boll added. “Tourism might be getting back into full swing, but it would not do well for the harsh, painful lessons of the pandemic to fall by the wayside. Economic diversification should continue in earnest for a better economic future for individual countries and the region as a whole.”