From Caribbean360

CARICOM Secretary General Irwin 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.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Thursday March 20, 2014, CMC – 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 (APD) from next year.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne delivering his 2014 national budget to legislators, said that from April of 2015, the APD will be simplified into a two band system: Band A for short haul flights of less than 2000 miles from London and Band B for all long haul flights more than 2000 miles from London.

Under the new proposal, the new Band B will be charged at the planned rate in 2015-16 of £71 (One British Pound = US$1.66 cents) for reduced rate passengers and £142 for standard rate passengers.

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 thatCARICOM 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”.

Earlier, the Barbados-based CTO said it was “delighted” with the announcement.

“This is a complete victory for the Caribbean, which, led by the CTO, has been lobbying against the unfair system which charged a higher rate of APD on flights to Barbados than Hawaii and placed the United States at a competitive advantage,” said CTO Chairman, Beverly Nicholson-Doty.

“We are delighted that the Chancellor has finally accepted the Caribbean’s proposal made in November 2010 to return to the simpler and fairer two band system” she said, thanking various stakeholders including the regional governments and diplomats based in London and Europe.

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/business/1107318.html?utm_source=Caribbean360+Newsletters&utm_campaign=a6d4c7038a-Vol_7_Issue_011_Business3_20_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_350247989a-a6d4c7038a-39393477#ixzz2wYiVUo7p

See also related story:

Letter to Caribbean News Now re APD reduction

This letter was published on the Caribbean News Now website and puts an interesting and different perspective on the recent announcement of the reduction, by the UK Chancellor, of its awful Air Passenger Duty (APD) for long haul visitors from the United Kingdom. 

Letter: Grenada Tourism Minister Alexandra Otway-Noel ought to be congratulated

Published on March 24, 2014

Dear Sir:

I recently read your published article highlighting the return of direct flights by the German airline Condor from Frankfurt to Maurice Bishop International Airport in Grenada. This I believe is good news for those wanting to holiday in Grenada or visit friends and family. Flights from Germany will also help to boost the tourism industry and the country’s flagging economy.

I am writing to express my appreciation and thanks to the government and in particular the Minister of Tourism Alexandra Otway-Noel, who I attacked personally in an article I wrote while holidaying in St George’s in November. At that time I felt the minister failed to grasp the nettle and look at the bigger picture in terms of value to the industry as a whole also; the economic benefits of long and short stay over visitors to Grenada. I also felt that not enough was being done to re-introduce chartered flights from the UK and Germany.

There are scheduled flights from the UK every week provided by national airlines; however, these flights are not cheap and, with the introduction of air passenger duty, which the British government has been ratcheting up year after year, visitors to Grenada from the UK have to pay an additional £170 each in tax to the UK government for the pleasure of travelling to the Caribbean. For a couple, it cost £340. This is not just scandalous it is outrageous — we call it rip off Britons.

The slight reduction in this tax announced by George Osborne, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his budget speech last Wednesday will only come into effect in 12 months time. This, in my opinion, is too little too late and will have little or no effect at all in terms of boosting air travel from the UK to the Caribbean.

What UK residents want from the Grenada minister is a resumption of chartered flights from the UK to St George’s, which would make a big difference, because it would encourage people to visit Grenada as this would offer them more choice and value for money when choosing a Caribbean holiday, as well as encourage Grenadians in the UK to visit their homeland. It will also increase the footfall of visitors from the UK on a weekly basis.

The minister has made a good start. I am confident that with the re-introduction of Condor Airlines flights to Grenada the country will experience more visitors including long stays and this will no doubt help in the regeneration of the economy. The minister next objective in this direction should be negotiating the resumption of weekly chartered flights from the UK.

Winston Strachan

Northampton

England