Two Big Thumbs Up for APD Reform

Tourism chiefs of Barbados and Antigua have joined the Caribbean Tourism Organization in welcoming reform of long-haul Air Passenger Duty.

Richard Sealy, tourism and international transport minister of Barbados, predicted the change in the air tax bands from next year would trigger more arrivals from the UK. The simplification of APD follows years of industry lobbying from both sides of the Atlantic.

Sealy said: “When I attended meetings with the British government together with Caribbean colleagues and the travel sector to present our case against this tax, I was impressed with how forcefully our industry came together on this issue.

“Our key travel industry partners were incredibly supportive in arguing with Barbados against the APD whilst still continuing to advocate travel to our country.”

He added: Now that the distorting impact of the tax has been removed I am confident we will be working with our same loyal and dedicated travel partners to welcome more British visitors back to Barbados in the coming years.”

Antigua and Barbuda tourism minister John Maginley said: “I am delighted that the British government has decided to remove the discrimination created by the banding in the application of the APD.

“I had the privilege of leading a delegation of Caribbean ministers of tourism as chairman of the CTO to the UK to meet and discuss the effect of the APD as far back as September 2009 where this proposal was first made.

“It has taken some time for this to happen but in the end it will be beneficial to Antigua and Barbuda in terms of lowering the cost of travel to the destination and increasing arrivals out of the UK."

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Irwin La Rocque Wednesday said he was pleased that the British government had decided to reform the Air Passenger Duty from next year.

La Rocque said that the tax had in the past negatively affected the region’s tourism sector and the realignment to a simpler and fairer two-band system is in keeping with the proposals advanced by the Community.

“The Community had from the outset expressed its concern that the manner in which the APD was applied, discriminated against Caribbean destinations given that it was calculated according to the distance between London and the destination country’s capital city.

“For example, the APD tax on a ticket to Hawaii was less that the APD tax on a ticket to the Caribbean,” La Rocque said, adding that CARICOM through high level political and diplomatic representatives, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), the diaspora, as well as affected airlines and friends of the Caribbean lobbied strongly and ultimately successfully for a fair application of this tax.

La Rocque said he was also praising the British government and “all who lobbied for the amendment of the discriminatory tax.

“Our Community and its supporters have been steadfast in their efforts to have this tax applied more fairly and these efforts have not been in vain,” La Rocque said, adding that the action taken by London “was a tangible demonstration of the value of dialogue in addressing issues of concern”.

Source: Travel Weekly/Caribbean360