SOCIAL CONFLICT AND COVID-19 IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: THE TOURISM SECTOR AS COLLATERAL DAMAGE

ABSTRACT

The convulsive and tense political-social context that Latin America and the Caribbean have traditionally presented seems that, instead of being minimized, it may be even more so because of the economic impacts that the recent health pandemic that is hitting the world is leaving in the region . COVID 19 hits developing countries the hardest, which were already in a complicated political, economic and social situation, of precariousness and inequality, and which, with this global health crisis, will only get worse. This crisis affects all socioeconomic orders and, how could it be otherwise, this will also be reflected in the tourism sector, which, before the pandemic, was identified by the vast majority of the governments of the region as one of the axes tractors to drive economic development. An industry that was considered key due to its ability to have an impact on all social sectors and mainly due to its growth capacity in the medium term, but which unfortunately was hit squarely by the collateral consequences produced by the health pandemic and that ruined with the vast majority of tourist strategies. The general and main objective of this article is to describe the existing tourist differences in this region, analyze and interpret the effects that COVID-19 has had, reflect on the role that sustainability should have, especially economic and social, and treat to interpret what the future of tourism may be, especially in rural environments, since it is where the incidence of this disaster is most felt, since the conditions of poverty and vulnerability of people are more evident than in urban environments. In this sense, some of the data emerged in this work show harsh, but at the same time hopeful, opinions within the tourism sector that highlight the importance that trends related to new tourism models may have, such as, for example, regenerative tourism. . The development of the work has been carried out through a qualitative methodology, analyzing reports, research and documents prepared by the main international institutions present in the region. One of the conclusions that this study contributes is that the future outlook for the analyzed societies entails taking more hygiene measures for the tourism industry and guaranteeing a perceived security for the visitor greater than in other regions of the world. Two urgent needs of the region's tourism industry to try to be competitive are also revealed in the present work. One is the digitalization and technological modernization of the tourism sector in rural areas, and the other is greater support and institutional and governmental involvement that serve as the backbone for businessmen, entrepreneurs and cooperative members.