BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - HEADS of two leading bodies within the Caribbean region have found favor with the recent announcement by the UK Government to lower the Airline Passenger Duty (APD).
The two big wigs, Beverly Nicholson-Doty and Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, Chairperson of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) and CARICOM’s Secretary-General respectively, have both made public statements on the new grouping band that the region has been placed under.
In a recent media release, Nicholson-Doty said: “This is a complete victory for the Caribbean which, led by the CTO, has been lobbying against the unfair system which charged a higher rate of APD on flights to Barbados than Hawaii and placed the United States at a competitive advantage.
“We are delighted that the Chancellor has finally accepted the Caribbean’s proposal made in November 2010 to return to the simpler and fairer two-band system.
“Rest assured that the CTO, with support of our partners, will continue to advocate on behalf of the Caribbean tourism sector. We will now proceed to examine all the implications of this very positive development and advise our members accordingly.”
Ambassador LaRocque also welcomed the move by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, the Hon. George Osborne.
The UK announced that it would restructure the four-band APD system, which has long been a bone of contention for the Caribbean region with tourism numbers for visitors from the UK falling drastically overtime.
In a release published on its website, CARICOM’s Secretary-General said that this tax has negatively affected the region’s tourism sector and the realignment to a simpler and fairer two-band system is in keeping with the proposals advanced by the community.
The Community had from the outset expressed its concern that the manner in which the APD was applied discriminated against Caribbean destinations, given that it was calculated according to the distance between London and the destination country’s capital city.
For example, the APD tax on a ticket to Hawaii was less than that on a ticket to the Caribbean.
The Caribbean Community, through high level political and diplomatic representatives, the CTO, and the Diaspora, as well as affected airlines and friends of the Caribbean, lobbied strongly and ultimately succeeded for a fair application of the tax.
The Secretary-General thanked the British Government and praised all who lobbied for the amendment of the discriminatory tax.
“Our Community and its supporters have been steadfast in their efforts to have this tax applied more fairly, and these efforts have not been in vain,” Ambassador LaRocque said.
Referring to the action taken by the British Government, the Secretary-General said this response was a tangible demonstration of the value of dialogue in addressing issues of concern.
In some Caribbean countries the CTO reports that up to 40 percent of total arrivals by air come from the UK, making any reduction in visitors economically challenging.
The impending changes, which will take effect from April 2015, would see taxes being lowered to £71 on long-haul tickets and £142 charge on seats in premium cabins from its current hefty price of up to £97 in economy and £194 in premium class.
