Taylor: Review tourism taxes

Prominent hotelier Ralph Taylor has called for a review of all taxes on tourism, the sector that has been identified as the quickest and probably the only avenue to get Barbados out of its current economic decline.
Taylor said the review would make the product at source free of taxes so that it could be globally competitive, while taxes were imposed on its source markets.
“In other words,” he added, “Government should levy a charge on air tickets (like the British) for all tourism arrivals. This will provide the desirable level of revenue without pricing our product out of the market.”
Taylor acknowledged the move would increase the cost of travel but argued that the consumer would pay the charge as part of the ticket cost, while the advertised price of hotels would be allowed to be competitive. (AB)