Covid in paradise
How are small island tourist destinations coping with the shutdown of global travel?
Business Daily · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
How are small island tourist destinations like the Caribbean island state of Antigua and Barbuda coping with the shutdown of global travel?
Manuela Saragosa speaks to the Antiguan Minister of Tourism Charles Fernandez about the innovative steps his country took to continue welcoming holidaymakers from North America and Europe last year, while keeping them safely contained within their own beachside bubbles.
The pandemic has been devastating for the travel industry more generally, according to Helen McDermott of Oxford Economics. Among those hardest hit are aircrew. Former pilot Matthew Wilson tells how he ended up relocating halfway across the planet to become a gardener after his airline went into liquidation. Meanwhile Jeffrey Goh of the Star Alliance global grouping of major airlines says they urgently need world governments to agree the conditions under which restrictions on travel can finally be lifted.
Producer: Laurence Knight
(Picture: Mother, child in face masks have fun on sea beach; Credit: Bicho_raro/Getty Images)