Outgoing tourist group boss urges tax changes
Published:Monday | June 28, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
WITH SOME Caribbean destinations reporting significant declines in key profitability indicators compared with 2008, a prominent tourism stakeholder is calling for urgent intervention by private- and public-sector leaders.
Statistics indicate that the average direct revenue and the revenue par in regional destinations are as much as 40 per cent below the 2008 levels.
These indicators are slightly ahead for regional destinations in 2010 compared with last year but, for hotels specifically, they are running about 16 per cent to 21 per cent, respectively, below the 2008 levels.
This has prompted the immediate past president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, Enrique deMarchena, to make an urgent appeal for public- and private-sector leaders to address the necessary policy issues to establish Caribbean tourism on a sustainable economic platform.
"Tourism has to be recognised as an export and treated as that," deMarchena said.
He was speaking at the Half Moon hotel in Montego Bay, St James, on Saturday night before the installation of Josef Forstmayr as the new president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.
Forstmayr is the first Jamaican hotelier to take up the mantle in 24 years.
According to deMarchena, taxes directly imposed on the tourism sector (for example import duties on items used daily in the industry like chinaware and linen) are eventually passed on to tourists.
"Therefore, we are exporting taxes and making our industry less competitive when tourism has to compete today in the global arena."
DeMarchena also wants a US$3 tax imposed on all passengers coming to the region to fund initiatives to enhance local and Caribbean tourism promotion.
Noting that his desires could appear contradictory, deMarchena said there was a difference between wrong taxation and good taxation.
"Good taxation ends up in promoting the Caribbean as a destination, creating more jobs and wealth for the governments, while improving the trickle-down effect of tourism in the local economies," he later told The Gleaner.
Remove visa for regional travel
DeMarchena also called for an end to the visa requirement for regional travel.
"Jamaicans do not need a visa to go to the Dominican Republic
"There is no reason for any of these restrictions for travelling."
According to deMarchena, the economic downturn and its long-term implications are cause for serious concern and require immediate action if the tourist industry is to be saved from further hardship.
"I cannot emphasise this enough. This must take place immediately."
His concerns are heightened by the revision of the global travel forecast by the World Travel and Tourism Council. Global travel growth is now forecast to be around 0.5 per cent, down from the 3.5 per cent growth projected in January indicating the challenges to be faced in 2010 by Caribbean industry stakeholders.