Don't kill the tourism golden goose, warns Issa
Published:Tuesday | December 14, 2010 | 12:00 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
SuperClubs chairman John Issa is estimating that the cruise ship industry owes the country more than US$12 million in head tax, while land-based tourists are being burdened with fees tacked on to their airline tickets.
According to Issa, cruise-ship passengers are required to pay US$2 head tax per person, but "not one cent has been collected, yet we have been piling tax on our land-based visitors for giving them the privilege of spending their hard-earned money in Jamaica.
"While the TEF has not collected this amount, the board has the audacity to propose the additional head tax on the stopover tourist," he added.
His comments come days after the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) Board voted to increase the tax on airline tickets for incoming passengers by 100 per cent. Currently, visitors to the island pay US$10 per person.
"I felt obligated to give my views on the disastrous path we appear to be taking to seriously damage the tourism industry," Issa argued.
Grand total
According to the hotel mogul, up to the end of 2008, US$8.5 million was due on the tax from cruise passengers and his estimate is that by the end of 2010, an additional US$4 million will be due, bringing the total to more than US$12 million.
His concerns are even more far-reaching, as he argues that in addition to increasing the general consumption tax on land-based visitors' hotel stays by 10 per cent last year, every tourist coming to Jamaica has to pay J$1,800 departure tax and US$10 to the TEF on arrival.
"Any new tax would mean that the visitor who arrives by air would pay over US$40 for the privilege of arriving and departing."
Issa cautioned the decision makers to remember what happened to the country's bauxite and alumina industry after massive increases were levied on that sector.
"We have killed that proverbial golden goose; let us not kill the tourism golden goose," he warned.