Caribbean claims tax victory
The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) claimed the Chancellor’s announcement of a freeze in Air Passenger Duty and a review of the tax bands was a small but important victory for the islands.
In particular it welcomed George Osborne’s statement to the Commons that the arbitrary nature of the bands “appeared to believe that the Caribbean was further away than California” as a recognition of the CTO’s claim that tax to the islands should be reduced.
Unlike many in the travel industry, the CTO opposed the idea of changing the air passenger duty for a per plane tax, which Mr Osborne said today would fall foul of international law, but it called for a reduction in the duty and a fairer banding system.
"The Chancellor’s speech gives us positive results on all three points," it said in a statement.
"It is therefore clear evidence that the British government is listening to our concerns and that we have been effective in expressing them publicly and privately."
CTO said it was pleased it had been officially invited to continue to participate in further APD consultation over the coming weeks.
"In so doing we will continue to argue that the current banding system places the Caribbean at a disadvantage and hurts our economies. We will persist in our efforts to obtain a fairer system of aviation taxation that does not cripple travel to our heavily tourism-dependent region.
"Therefore, in spite of today’s good news from the UK Chancellor, our advocacy on the APD is not over. All Caribbean tourism interests must continue to fight for APD reform in a manner that further removes any competitive disadvantage, and does not hamper our efforts to achieve sustainable growth in tourism, for the benefit of the people of the Caribbean."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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