The neo-liberal narrative on small island states (SIS) is that the limited economic options, isolation from key markets and vulnerability to natural disasters predispose them to less than favourable development outcomes. However, within the context of the pandemic, this notion of isolation has to some degree been upended; so that isolation now carries with it positive connotations both in terms of cases and deaths. From a tourism perspective, isolation is now being touted as the ‘new frontier’ and one of the answers to a rebound in tourism, where tour operators are now aggressively marketing sun, wellness, mindfulness, remoteness and adventure (Hutchinson, 2021; Southan, 2021) .
Within the economic sphere, the Caribbean’s unenviable nomenclature as the most tourism dependent region in the world, has been tested with many islands recording double digit declines in tourism arrivals and revenue. The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands have all witnessed a 12% decline in GDP in 2020 (Coke-Hamilton 2020). The multiplier effect of this has been significant job losses and temporary and permanent closure of businesses However, this paper suggests that this evidence is but one part of the story of the pandemic in islands.
Drawing upon Scheyvens and Momsen’s (2008:495) position that ‘…there is little appreciation of the value of traditional beliefs and institutions, or of the resilience and coping strategies of [island] communities,’ this paper explores the various resilience strategies adopted and coopted by tourism small business owners in select Caribbean islands to cope with the socio-psychological and economic effects of the pandemic. Using in-depth interviews, the paper probes the various iterations of resilience - absorptive resilience, adaptive resilience and transformative resilience (Bene, Wood, Newsham and Davies 2012) employed by these owners and the implications for a different post-pandemic tourism industry in these islands’.
Mots clés : small tourism business owners|resilience strategies|Caribbean|islands
A104008SR