Far from the coronavirus epicenter, Caribbean tourism starts to get sick

Far from the coronavirus epicenter, Caribbean tourism starts to get sick

The latest blow: A State Department advisory this week bluntly warning U.S. citizens to avoid cruise ships.. Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett said this island nation has lost roughly 50,000 cruise ship passengers in recent weeks - a $4 million blow to the economy.. Cruise passengers account for 75 percent of foreign visitors to the Bahamas, for example, but only 11 percent of overall tourist spending.. Fewer cruise ship passengers have been arriving at Nassau, the capital, in recent weeks.. Like many islands in the Caribbean, Barbuda is facing a delicate balance between economics and public health.. Officials have turned away three cruise ships because passengers had flu-like symptoms. ". The cruise ships don't have tests, and it's going to be a week or so before our first tests arrive," Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez said. ". The nation's economy is the second-most dependent on cruise passengers in the Caribbean, at 4.1 percent of gross domestic product, according to the industry publication Skift .. Jamaica the week confirmed its first case of the coronavirus - a British national who arrived on March 4..