A British legislator, Mark Pritchard, who is visiting Barbados for a firsthand view of the effect the APD is having on the local industry, has voiced support for the position of the Caribbean over London’s decision to increase a controversial Air Passenger Duty (APD) tax even as the region said it would continue to advocate for the removal of the measure.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that he will develop, together with Cuba, a large hotel complex on the Caribbean coast near Caracas, a tourist area left abandoned following the massive flooding that devastated the region in 1999.

The Cayman Islands is proposing to boost a hotel tax, increase the departure tax and raise work permit fees to help to bail the British territory out of a budget deficit. Premier McKeeva Bush says the measures will generate $52.5 million in 10 months.

The International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) announced the World Association of Travel Agencies (WATA) from Switzerland has joined the alliance as a partner association. WATA's Christine Fournier said they are proud to become a member of the ICTP.

Multicom, Definitive Caribbean, Newmont Travel and the Wales Air Forum are the latest to join anti-Air Passenger Duty campaign group, A Fair Tax on Flying. Six weeks ago, A Fair Tax on Flying launched a campaign to get 100,000 consumers and businesses to email their MP, objecting to the level of APD; last week, over 85,000 had done so.

A pristine swath of Puerto Rico’s north coast that developers have long coveted is now a nature reserve, ending a bitter and lengthy battle between the government and environmentalists. Both the House and Senate already had unanimously approved the bill.