Editorial | Travel advisories will do more harm

Travel advisories, once issued sparingly by the US Government to discourage travel to war zones or countries experiencing natural disasters, high crime or terrorism, are now tied to the novel coronavirus and are hurting target countries.

Every country is assigned an overall travel-advisory level, from one to four. Advisories fall into two categories: travel warnings and travel alerts. These documents are issued by the US State Department to inform its citizens about the safety condition of countries they may wish to visit. Warnings are created for protracted conditions, while alerts are meant for temporary situations.

The US State Department explains that the current advisory has closely followed the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) science-based data points. At present, the CDC has more than 140 travel health notices. A level four warning is translated to mean: Do not travel due to COVID-19. It covers 34 countries and is expected to soon include most countries.

We support the notion that better-informed travellers make for safer travels and that, while the decision to travel is a personal one, warnings can be used for risk assessment and possibly a response.

But how fair are these advisories? Do they tell the entire picture, and could they be misleading more than being helpful? Are they issued out of concern for citizens or are they driven by other motives?

The truth is that travel advisories usually have negative economic and social implications for the targeted countries. They have the effect of scaring away visitors. Critics of these warnings assert that they are rooted in prejudice, and are categorised as punishment for countries whose economies depend heavily on international travel. In such cases, warnings are seen as soft sanctions.

Let’s understand that tourism-generating countries can do significant harm, to the point of destabilising destination countries through these advisories, which are designed to stop the flow of tourists. The tourist dollar stretches far and wide, because of the number of industries that are linked.

EQUAL RISKS

From all the available statistics, COVID-19 poses equal risks to travellers within the United States, as it does to persons who travel outside of the mainland. Global COVID-19 cases have passed 140 million and have claimed more than three million lives worldwide. The US has recorded more than 31 million cases and 570,000 deaths, the highest in the world. Very few places have not been affected. So, it is valid to question the legitimacy of the current selective warning against COVID-19. Note also that the CDC includes the US in its list of COVID-19 danger spots.

One country on the receiving end of this advisory is Barbados. Its foreign ministry is fighting back by publicly condemning the advisory, saying it does not merit the assignment of level four, which is customarily reserved for countries in the midst of destabilising conflict, or which target Americans for harm.

Barbados called out the US Department of State for misinformation, saying it has not provided relevant data to enable travellers to make informed decisions. Reference was made to the decline in deaths and new infections on the island, as well as the preparedness of healthcare facilities to deal with patients.

Barbados called for a dispassionate presentation of the facts concerning the public-health situation in each country.

Like the US, other countries are looking at every possible way to revive their economies. Jamaica wants to boost visitor arrivals and related activities, a level four advisory will not help this recovery effort.

CARICOM countries, which have been the subject of the travel advisories, need to argue for cooperation and support to climb their way out of these troubling times. What is needed is a momentum for growth, not advisories which will cause more harm and hardships.