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Lobbies against UK travel duty bearing fruit
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
It appears the efforts of Caribbean nationals in the United Kingdom to overturn a proposed increase in Air Passenger Duty are bearing fruit.
The tax was being imposed for persons travelling
from the UK to the Caribbean.
According to the Tourism Ministry a report from the UK-based Caribbean Council has noted that the British Government is promising to look again at what it can do to amend the tax.
This, the Ministry says, is a direct consequence of a lobbying campaign led by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation.
The Ministry of Tourism said the campaign has been supported by Prime Minister, Bruce Golding as well as Tourism Minister, Ed Bartlett.
The proposed tax is based on the distance from London to the capital city of an individual country.
Diaspora advocates argue that the tax is unfair.
They say based on the system worked out by the British Government, a traveller from London to Hawaii will pay less for his ticket, than a ticket to travel to the Caribbean, which is a shorter distance from London.
This they argue is so because the US capital, Washington DC is closer to London than the capitals of islands of the Caribbean.
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
It appears the efforts of Caribbean nationals in the United Kingdom to overturn a proposed increase in Air Passenger Duty are bearing fruit.
The tax was being imposed for persons travelling
from the UK to the Caribbean.
According to the Tourism Ministry a report from the UK-based Caribbean Council has noted that the British Government is promising to look again at what it can do to amend the tax.
This, the Ministry says, is a direct consequence of a lobbying campaign led by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation.
The Ministry of Tourism said the campaign has been supported by Prime Minister, Bruce Golding as well as Tourism Minister, Ed Bartlett.
The proposed tax is based on the distance from London to the capital city of an individual country.
Diaspora advocates argue that the tax is unfair.
They say based on the system worked out by the British Government, a traveller from London to Hawaii will pay less for his ticket, than a ticket to travel to the Caribbean, which is a shorter distance from London.
This they argue is so because the US capital, Washington DC is closer to London than the capitals of islands of the Caribbean.
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