It's no secret that the CARICOM nations depend heavily on tourism as a major driver of their economies. The Caribbean Public Health Authority, known as CARPHA is seeking to protect that product by getting all hoteliers in the different countries to buy into a regional tourism and health program.
It's called the Tourism and Health Information System, and its purpose is to aid CARPHA and the regional health professionals to track illness trends among tourists in all CARICOM countries. It works is through a website that each hotelier has access to, with a unique username and password. If any of their guests are exhibiting any signs of illnesses, they can make a report through the Tourism and Health Information System, by simply following a questionnaire type survey. It does not ask for any personal information of the hotelier, or the tourist being negatively affected. However, it does allows the health professionals to monitor possible health threats to the region's tourism sector in real-time, so that they can prevent and/or minimize the spread and impact of diseases.
Officials from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Tourism, the Belize Tourism Board, and the Caribbean Public Health Agency were discussing the benefits of the program today in a forum at the Biltmore Plaza Hotel, and 7News stopped by.
Here's what they told us about why the Belizean hoteliers should embrace this program:
Antonio Hegar - Epidemiologist, Ministry of Health
"The purpose of today's meeting is actually part of a 2-day workshop that was being held here in Belize. As you pointed out, it is between the Ministry of Health and the Caribbean Public Health Agency CARPHA, which is based out of Trinidad. As well, it incorporates the Belize Tourism Industry, Ministry of Health - to be specific, and as well, the Belize Tourism Board. The primary purpose of the meeting today is to bring together the stakeholders from health and tourism, particularly with respect to a system being rolled out in Belize, has been rolled out, and is continuing to be rolled out in Belize, known as the Tourism and Health Information System."
Reporter
"Does this particular program's success depend on the buy-in from the hoteliers who mainly interface with the guests?"
Dr. Lisa Indar
"Yes, it actually depends a lot. So, even though a lot of people see it as a health initiative, but it's health working with tourism. So, the user is the hotel or the hospitality industry. So, if they are not using the system, if they are not reporting, if they don't trust the system, to see if there is something, then it can't work. There is a reality. People do get sick. We're trying to put measures in place so that if they do get sick, we respond quickly. There is also a reality. Sometimes, we serve that is not the best quality. Sometimes, the environmental sanitation is not the best quality. So, we're making sure that we do whatever is possible to improve that. The system is confidential in that we don't ask for someone's name. We ask for symptoms, so we can get a trend. If we see more than one of something, or more than 5 of something, obviously, we know that there is more than one case, that there is an issue. And then, there will be a response to that. So, it's very very confidential. CARPHA doesn't see your information. No other hotel can see your information. So, we really want to appeal to the hoteliers to use it. It is to their benefit. It's their free, internal way of managing their guests, to ensure that their guests have a healthier and happier experience."
Belize started participating in the Tourism and Health information System in 2016. To date, 37 hotels are already enrolled in the program, but the health professionals are seeking to expand it to all those who work in the hospitality industry.
