Bridgetown
Barbados, May 19, 2020
-- Despite
bleak forecasts for the tourist sector hard-hit by the Covid-19
pandemic, a regional bank is committed to the sector and “will
continue to be active” in supporting the Caribbean tourism
industry.

Speaking
recently during a webinar entitled, "Covid-19 and Investment in
Caribbean Infrastructure", Adam Carter, Managing Director and
Head, Investment Banking at CIBC FirstCaribbean said the hospitality
and hotel industry accounted for “a large part of our portfolio and
we will continue to be active in it”.

He
said tourism was the “lifeblood of the Caribbean” and the bank
would continue to focus on it, putting “time, effort and capital
into the sector. That is not changing”. Mr. Carter said the bank
has had “lots of requests for support and we are helping our
clients through this storm”.

Mr.
Carter said there was a need to improve some of the region’s
tourism infrastructure and this could be achieved through
Public/Private Partnerships. He added that the region must “do all
to improve its marketability so that when borders do re-open we are
one of the first destinations visitors will want to come to”.

Fellow
panelist S. Brian Samuel, Head, Public-Private Partnerships,
Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), had earlier warned that there may
not be a quick rebound in regional tourism, neither long-stay or
cruise arrivals. He further cautioned that the region needed to
“adjust our tourism away from the mass market” as post-covid-19
may see less tourist arrivals.

He
said the region was likely to see more high-end visitors as the cost
of travel was expected to rise significantly as the world economy was
expected to slip into a recession worse than the 2008/09 one.

Diane
Edwards, President, JAMPRO agreed with Samuels noting that the
high-end part of the tourism market will continue and the “challenge
for hotels will be what protocols will be put in place to ensure
their safety”.

The
panelist also noted that the region should continue its push toward
major investment in renewable energy as well as building up
healthcare infrastructure in the region.

The
latter point was stressed by Stephen C. Beatty, Global Chairman,
Infrastructure, and Chairman, Global Cities Center of Excellence at
KPMG. He noted that the region now has a “huge opportunity to
transform how healthcare is delivered” by moving away from
investing in building traditional hospitals and investing
significantly in telemedicine and the technology to deliver it
efficiently.

The
webinar was moderated by Jon Whiteaker, Editor, IJGlobal.

Ends

About
CIBC FirstCaribbean

CIBC
FirstCaribbean is a relationship bank offering a full range of market
leading financial services through our Corporate and Investment
Banking, Retail and Business Banking and Wealth Management segments.
We are located in sixteen (16) countries around the Caribbean,
providing the banking services that fit our customers’ lives
through approximately 3,000 employees in 68 branches and offices. We
are one of the largest regionally listed financial services
institutions in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean, with over
US$11 billion in assets and market capitalization of US $2 billion.
We also have an office in Hong Kong. The face of banking is changing
throughout the world and CIBC FirstCaribbean intends to lead these
changes with the expertise, integrity and knowledge gained from
banking in the Caribbean since 1836.

CIBC
FirstCaribbean is a member of the CIBC Group. CIBC is a leading
Canadian-based global financial institution with 11 million personal
banking and business clients. Through our three major business units
- Retail and Business Banking, Wealth Management and Capital Markets
- CIBC offers a full range of products and services through its
comprehensive electronic banking network, branches and offices
across Canada with offices in the United States and
around the world.

For
more information about CIBC FirstCaribbean, visit www.cibcfcib.com
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