St. Lucia Tourism Minister Defends Value-Added Hotel Tax

By Brian Major (Travel Pulse)

St. Lucia’s tourism minister, Lorne Theophilus, defended an 8 percent value-added tax that will be applied to island hotels this fall at a recent hotel and tourism association gathering. Theophilus said the government has examined “the implications for the industry on introducing VAT and is convinced that 8 percent is a fair tax.” He said the measure will be reviewed in April 2013 “to access the actual effects on the sector.”

Speaking at last week’s annual general meeting of the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association at the Royal by Rex Resort, Theophilus said St. Lucia has recorded a 15 percent increase in arrivals to the island from January to March of this year compared with the same period in 2011, a result he called “a combined effort of hoteliers and the St. Lucia Tourist Board.” He added that 2012 “has the potential to be a very good year, but there are the challenges we must overcome.”

Going forward, Theophilus said St. Lucia’s tourism initiatives will focus on developing an “agreed marketing strategy” in major markets; on creating “improvement” in airlift to the island, which he called too costly, and on creating of “a new tagline for marketing promotions that [is] all embracing and reflective of the destination.” He added that “special attention” will go to the development of industry-wide hospitality standards and “a process of licensing.”

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