He is coming tourism “Exclusively for thick wallets and under strict conditions?”
In the Montserrat, an island in Caribbean, they thought seriously. They put it all down and finally said “yes”, proceeding to an extremely daring, sometimes divisive, “experiment” with their tourism.
The island government has decided to open its borders, but only for people who make at least $ 70,000 (around € 60,000) annually and agree to stay on the enchanting island for two months.
Before the pandemic, most visitors came there just to admire the beauties of the island for 1-2 days, before returning to nearby Antigua. But now, in order for a tourist to set foot in Montserrat, he will have to make at least $ 70,000 a year but also explicitly and unequivocally commit to staying there for at least two months, as The New York Times writes in an extensive article.
In return for all this, visitors will have Exclusive access not only to beaches, but also to an “alternative reality”, as those in charge say, where the coronavirus does not even seem to exist on the horizon.
When the island detected the first few cases, in March 2020, it closed its borders to all tourists with zero exceptions. Last April he opened them carefully, with a program aimed at those who want to work remotely.
The program requires both vaccinated and unvaccinated visitors to be quarantined for two weeks and then have a coronavirus test. So far 21 people from 7 families have successfully participated in this program.
The article emphatically comments that “the Montserrat initiative differs both in the difficult conditions of participation and in the fact that the island sets a minimum and not a maximum stay”.
“They are very selective about who they let go,” said N.David Court, Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, who spent three months working from Montserrat with his wife and daughter. “I have been told that they are constantly rejecting many applications,” he added.
As of September 20, the island counted 33 coronavirus cases in 18 months, according to the health ministry. Given that only 23% (not even a quarter) of the population is fully vaccinated, it is understandable that if the virus spreads to the island, its health system will not be able to manage it.
What do the tourists who visited the island say?
Her family Crystal Bakor was the first to participate in the program. Five months later, the former financial analyst – who is now a children’s book author – still resides at island.
“I remember at the beginning of the pandemic I was wondering if there were places on the planet that did not face this madness,” she said, adding that she had found such a place in Montserrat, where she could go to art exhibitions without a mask and leave her children in kindergarten. without fear of coronavirus. “There is nothing here that can kill them,” he concludes.
“The first two weeks we arrived, we stayed in our rented villas. “We could not get a car until the quarantine was over,” he said Patrick Bennett, who stayed on the island with his family in May and June, noting in fact that he did not find the requirement for a minimum stay of two months excessive.
Court adds that this was the bait for that offer:
“This pandemic gives you the opportunity to get to know people and places better,” he explains. After all, being the only customer in restaurants also has benefits. “You have the opportunity to talk to the owners and hear their stories,” he notes.
But what was the result of this socio-economic experiment? “I would not say it was a huge success,” she said Clover Lee, owner of a small hotel on the island, and Andrew Myers, owner of a diving business; agrees and increases:
“I wonder why only those who make $ 70,000 a year should be accepted. “I do not think it was the best choice,” Myers said, adding that if this income threshold were reduced, the island might attract more candidates and therefore more tourists, with foreign exchange flowing more to locals. “It certainly had an effect on Montserrat staying safe from coronavirusHe admits.
However, according to the article, all this will soon change. In a few 24 hours, from October 1, all vaccinated tourists will be welcomed, to the great satisfaction of both tourists and tourism professionals on the exotic island.
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