Fears are growing that the tourism industry in many Caribbean nations could suffer if Barack Obama, US president-elect, decides to weaken or lift the long-standing US embargo on Cuba.

US passport holders are now banned from going to the island. But if American tourists - the Caribbean's biggest group of visitors - were granted unrestricted access to what is potentially the region's largest tourism destination, a "seismic shift" could hit the Caribbean, said Rafael Romeu, an International Monetary Fund economist who has studied the issue.