The governments of Barbados and its regional neighbours have been severely criticized for their increasing “appetite for taxation of the tourism industry” which is biting into the sector’s earnings.
And Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) president Josef Forstmayr yesterday called for countries to overhaul their tax policies or risk losing visitors to other destinations – an appeal endorsed Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA) president Colin Jordan.
Forstmayr addressed the undue hardships being imposed on the industry as the 16th annual Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference (CHTIC) opened yesterday at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Convention Centre.
Despite concerns expressed by tourism players in the past, government taxation had “continued to increase unabated,” said Forstmayr, managing director of the Round Hill Hotel and Villas in Jamaica.
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