BHTA: ‘Stay of execution’?

The Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA) is worried that Value Added Tax (VAT) relief Government recently offered the tourism industry may just be “a stay of execution”.
BHTA president Colin Jordan raised the issue earlier today when he addressed the association’s fourth quarterly general meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
In his presentation of the 2010-11 national budget, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Chris Sinckler increased the VAT by 2.5 per cent, but said the increase would not be passed on to the tourism sector.
Jordan spoke against the backdrop of complaints from hoteliers and other tourism service providers that any VAT increase would further damage the industry’s chances of recovering from a drop in tourist spending.