Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, says it is imperative that the regional campaign continues for changes to the British government’s airline passenger duty (APD).
Bartlett said the tax regime is unfair and is negatively impacting on visitor arrivals in the region.
“It is imperative that a successor regime for the APD is found and one which will be far more congenial to us and one which will enable far more equity,” he said in a government statement issued here on Wednesday.
“The Caribbean is at a disadvantage in terms of our neighbours, the United States. It is important for us to make sure that the playing field is level to give the Caribbean an equal chance to maintain its (market) share,” he added.
The APD increased on November 1 last year from £50 to £75 per person for economy class seats and from £100 to £150 for premium economy, business and first class tickets, the statement said.
The APD is billed as an environmental tax by the British government, which places countries in charging bands, based on the distance of their capital cities from London.
This means that flying from London to Los Angeles or Hawaii in the US is calculated as being the same as to Washington D.C. (band B); while destinations in the Caribbean, which are in band C, are charged at a higher rate of tax.
The Caribbean has argued that this is an “unfair tax,” which puts it at an economic disadvantage.
It, has, therefore, been lobbying for the region to be placed in the same band as the US.
Bartlett said a meeting, spearheaded by South Africa, will be held in Berlin, Germany, in March to discuss the APD issue with affected countries outside of the Caribbean.
Delegates of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) are also scheduled to meet in Berlin at the same time for a preparatory session for an assembly scheduled for June in Kenya, the statement said.
While in London, Bartlett, a member of the executive council of the UNWTO with responsibility for the Americas, met with “tourism interests” following talks in Spain with key investors and officials of the UNWTO.
He said his task is to bring the English-speaking Americas fully into the membership of the UNWTO.
“We have had, in the past, a very soft relationship between the North American side and the UNWTO. My job will be, along with the secretary general, and the regional director for the Americas, to bring the English-speaking North America fully into the fold of the UNWTO,” he said. (CMC)