Air Tax Cut Proposed to Boost Caribbean Tourism

Caribbean tourism chiefs have been urged to cut travel taxes to the region to boost visitation numbers from the US.

In a speech to the Cayman Economic Outlook Conference, former Bahamas tourism minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace said Caribbean countries are being priced out the market in comparison to other US vacation destinations such as Florida and Las Vegas, due to "jaw dropping" taxes on international flights.

Mr. Vanderpool-Wallace, now working as the head of Bradford Baker Group, a travel consultancy firm, said reducing the cost of travel from the US will revive the region's tourism industry and provide low-cost options year-round for US travelers.

Key to this, he said, is a reduction in departure taxes in reciprocal arrangements with other countries, like the US.  

To be most effective Vanderpool-Wallace believes Caribbean governments should collaborate together to negotiate the most favorable terms.

He added that the region's tourism industry should focus its efforts together on the US because it is the core market, but also look at similar measures to make inter-island travel more affordable within the Caribbean.

"The demand and the desire are there and all we have to do is make it easier and less expensive to get here and people will come," he said.

Source: Travel Mole