Barbados explains its aviation taxes amid warning about high fees in the Caribbean

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, CMC – Barbados Tourism Minister, Lisa Cummins, is expressing concern that 56 per cent of the cost of an airline ticket to Barbados is made up of taxes, even as she sought to explain the reason for the situation.

“But let us break down where fees and charges go to in-country because the things that we want and the things that we have to be able to provide him with a price tag,” she told a panel  discussing “Multi-Destination Tourism” as part of the Caribbean Aviation Day conference in the Cayman Islands on Wednesday.

Cummins said that Barbados has an airport service charge that goes towards marketing the destination internationally.

“That helps to support the airlines where we have incentive programmes and cooperative marketing programmes in the source markets.”

She said there is a terminal fee that supports the infrastructure of the aerodrome, noting that the country recently completed a multimillion dollar renovation of the runway at the Grantley Adams International Airport “because it needed to be up to international standards".

“So, when you disaggregate where the charges go, they're not going to profitability for the destination. They're not going to our consolidated fund as a source of revenue. They're going back into providing the kinds of infrastructure and services that actually benefit the aviation industry,” she said.

Cummins was speaking at an event at which the International Air Transport Association — IATA –Wednesday warned Caribbean destinations that they are “running the risk of pricing themselves out of the global travel and tourism market where passengers have more choice than ever before”.

IATA Vice President for the Americas, Peter Cerdá told the Caribbean Aviation Day conference that the region “needs to remain an attractive tourist destination”, adding that often it is difficult to see the correlation between aviation fees and the service provided.

Cedar said at a global level taxes and charges make up approximately 15 per cent of the ticket price and in the Caribbean the average is double this at approximately 30 per cent of the ticket price.

He said that for flights from Barbados to Barbuda, taxes and fees represent 56 per cent of the ticket price, and 42% from The Bahamas to Jamaica, the same as from St. Lucia to Trinidad and Tobago.

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