 And as workers in the tourism industry begin vaccination against the coronavirus, agents from sub-sectors have been given an account of their displacement in the last year and express hope for restoration thanks to the immunization effort. Transport, vending, duty-free adventure and recreation agents find their operations at the mercy of COVID-19 effects. During a special vaccination exercise for leaders in the industry, Cox & Company Limited's tourism department head, Eleanor Ray, encouraged residents of St. Lucia to get vaccinated. Cox & Company is a port agent and cruise ship operator on a highland. Since March last year, as you know, the Cox & Company were one of the major port agents and cruise ship operators. And we've had absolutely no cruise ships come in since March last year. So we are being very optimistic and hopeful that we will see the resumption coming up this year. And by all means, we would like to see as many, many of our staff and also the persons who work within the industry be vaccinated so we can actually move ahead once the cruise ship starts coming back. Retailers like duty-free Caribbean holdings are also heavily reliant on cruise arrivals. Company executive Joyce Lynn Edwards says sales are significantly lower than usual for reasons all leading back to the pandemic. She says lies and livelihoods are at stake if we do not get vaccinated. Less flights coming in. We have no ships coming into the ports. So you found that persons were not, and with the economy, people were not ready to spend the little that they earn and persons who had lost jobs. So for us, the business, it was not business as usual, especially November, December, when we had peak into January. And then when we had to close again in January, we took another, you know, hit as to our sales. So if everybody would just realize the benefits, because a lot of persons will say no, they will not take it. They too have families who are dependent on them. And if they don't do what they are supposed to do, that means, you know, we will go back to where we were. C. Spray-Cruz's general manager, Cory DuVaux, believes the vaccination campaign is also a step in the right direction. His business too has been limited due to the effects of the pandemic. It's been a tough 12 months. We've opened, closed, opened again. We are able to operate right now, but it is on a limited basis. Sites and attractions are closed. So even though we are mainly due C-based tours, a lot of that involves visiting the volcano, for example, sites in Suffra and stuff, which we're not able to do right now. So and then the limited amount of tourists on the island, it's just, you know, we're taking what we get, but it is very slow. And there are other businesses that are in a worse case, and that's where they're not able to open or have no business at this time. Leaders in the tourism sector are the latest group among the private sector and civil society to endorse the government's COVID-19 immunization effort in the hopes of expediting normalcy on island.