bahamiangoddess
06-26-08, - 01:43 PM
Bahamas lobbies for removal of air ticket tax
By INDERIA SAUNDERS, Guardian Business Desk, inderia@nasguard.com
WASHINGTON, DC - After months of hand-wringing about the future of tourism in The Bahamas and region, officials are finally taking action — well, at least lobbying U.S. lawmakers to
remove air ticket taxes, increase duty-free allowances and offer more pre-clearance points.
The Bahamas already holds those pre-clearance immigration checks, having that $40 tax — presently tacked onto international flights — removed could help the destination better attract Americans now grappling with a downturn in the economy.
"We've asked them to advance our cause in terms of having us for travel purposes consider domestic because of our proximity," Tourism Minister Neko Grant told Guardian Business earlier this week.
"We" being tourism heads from across the Caribbean and "them" being Congressional leaders on their home turf of Capitol Hill.
Any move to ameliorate the cost of going on vacation by push down already skyrocketing airfares could help Nassau overcome the kind of minor declines it reported in March. According to that most recent data, the country's largest and most important destination experienced a 0.6 percent decline that month when compared to the same period a year earlier.
The drop coincides with the lowest U.S. consumer confidence in American history, that barometer of economic health pointing to a growth in the kind of worries that compel holidayers to stay at home rather than go aboard for their R&R.
Winning a congressional concession would help offset the airline tickets that continue to have fuel surcharges tabbed on to them as American carriers look to pass on the increasing cost of fuel.
United Airlines, for example, recently announced it had added another $90 onto each and every ticket it issues regardless of the destination.
Those increases pose a potential threat to this region's tourism industry, coming during the summer months — a season already challenged.
Allen Chastanet, St. Lucia's Tourism Minister and co-chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Development Company (CTDC), said there are other factors contributing to the current state of the regional industry.
They're ones he laid before congressional representatives earlier this week, although considering upcoming elections and the approaching end of the session, it's by no means certain they can or will move to address them.
"We feel the Western Hemisphere Initiative has hurt the region more than anyone else and we are in discussions with Congress to see how we can remedy that situation," he said.
Chastanet, among other proponents of U.S. legislative intervention, is trying to get duty-free allowances to the region boosted, giving the Caribbean a comparative advantage over other tourism hotspots.
According to Grant, the increase could almost double the amount of goods returning residents actually take home.
"Now I think it's about $800 compared to U.S. Virgin Islands' — an American territory — $1,600," he said. "So if we can have a happy medium we would be most appreciative."
By INDERIA SAUNDERS, Guardian Business Desk, inderia@nasguard.com
WASHINGTON, DC - After months of hand-wringing about the future of tourism in The Bahamas and region, officials are finally taking action — well, at least lobbying U.S. lawmakers to
remove air ticket taxes, increase duty-free allowances and offer more pre-clearance points.
The Bahamas already holds those pre-clearance immigration checks, having that $40 tax — presently tacked onto international flights — removed could help the destination better attract Americans now grappling with a downturn in the economy.
"We've asked them to advance our cause in terms of having us for travel purposes consider domestic because of our proximity," Tourism Minister Neko Grant told Guardian Business earlier this week.
"We" being tourism heads from across the Caribbean and "them" being Congressional leaders on their home turf of Capitol Hill.
Any move to ameliorate the cost of going on vacation by push down already skyrocketing airfares could help Nassau overcome the kind of minor declines it reported in March. According to that most recent data, the country's largest and most important destination experienced a 0.6 percent decline that month when compared to the same period a year earlier.
The drop coincides with the lowest U.S. consumer confidence in American history, that barometer of economic health pointing to a growth in the kind of worries that compel holidayers to stay at home rather than go aboard for their R&R.
Winning a congressional concession would help offset the airline tickets that continue to have fuel surcharges tabbed on to them as American carriers look to pass on the increasing cost of fuel.
United Airlines, for example, recently announced it had added another $90 onto each and every ticket it issues regardless of the destination.
Those increases pose a potential threat to this region's tourism industry, coming during the summer months — a season already challenged.
Allen Chastanet, St. Lucia's Tourism Minister and co-chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Development Company (CTDC), said there are other factors contributing to the current state of the regional industry.
They're ones he laid before congressional representatives earlier this week, although considering upcoming elections and the approaching end of the session, it's by no means certain they can or will move to address them.
"We feel the Western Hemisphere Initiative has hurt the region more than anyone else and we are in discussions with Congress to see how we can remedy that situation," he said.
Chastanet, among other proponents of U.S. legislative intervention, is trying to get duty-free allowances to the region boosted, giving the Caribbean a comparative advantage over other tourism hotspots.
According to Grant, the increase could almost double the amount of goods returning residents actually take home.
"Now I think it's about $800 compared to U.S. Virgin Islands' — an American territory — $1,600," he said. "So if we can have a happy medium we would be most appreciative."