IATA urges Caribbean to cut airport taxes to stay competitive
Airline trade group IATA is urging Caribbean governments to cut passenger taxes if they want to benefit from the post pandemic recovery.
IATA’s regional VP for the Americas, Peter Cerda, says some nations risk losing market share when travel resumes.
Airlines will be reluctant to return to some Caribbean destinations if pricing is not competitive.
"One of the biggest problems that we’ve always faced in Caribbean is it is a very highly taxed market. And it’s always taxed on the airline side, on the passenger, consumer side. And this will be a big challenge for the Caribbean once we are able to escape from this crisis," Cerda said.
The industry is ‘as bad as one could expect’ and will be a competitive market when things improve, although to begin with, travelers will ‘rather remain close to home.’
Unless travel is priced competitively, ‘these passengers may decide to go somewhere else, somewhere else in Central America, Mexico or even see in the US,’ he said during a Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Covud-19 podcast.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports