June 29, 2011: Caribbean Response to the UK Government's Consultation on Reform of the APD
Caribbean Governments, the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) have made clear jointly and separately at every opportunity over the past two years, their concern about the impact that the present four band Air Passenger Duty (APD) system is having on the Caribbean economy and on its Diaspora living in the United Kingdom.
At Prime Ministerial level concerns about APD have been raised with the former UK Prime Minister at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 and again in 2011 in a letter to Prime Minister Cameron from the Prime Minister of Grenada, in his capacity as Chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
DOWNLOAD FULL JUNE 2011 DOCUMENT
March 23, 2011 - CTO Statement on the UK Government's Announcement that there will be no rise in the APD in 2011
The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) is pleased with today’s announcement by the British Chancellor that the Air Passenger Duty (APD) will not rise this year as previously projected, thus not increasing the current tax burden on British travellers to the Caribbean. The Chancellor’s statement to his parliament that the arbitrary nature of the bands “appeared to believe that the Caribbean was further away than California,” is a clear recognition of a crucial issue that has been the focus of the strong lobbying efforts by the CTO and its allies in the private sector, the Caribbean High Commissions, and the Diaspora.
Read the full March 2011 statement.
Nov. 2010: CTO Report: The Impact of Air Passenger Duty And Possible Alternatives for the Caribbean
In September 2010, six Caribbean Tourism Ministers met in London with British Ministers, officials, MPs and industry representatives to make clear their concerns about the damaging effect that Air Passenger Duty (APD) was having on the Caribbean tourism economy and the Caribbean community in the UK. The visit was organised by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the regional tourism development agency comprising of 33 Governments and a variety of private sector entities.
In these meetings the British Government requested a concise review of the relationship between aviation taxation and Caribbean visitor arrivals, with a specific focus on the value of tourism to the Caribbean, the projected impact of increases in the cost of flights as a result of taxation and evidence about the impact of APD on the Caribbean community in the UK.
Caribbean Governments have been the first to recognise that it is not easy to disaggregate figures relating to APD given the current global financial climate and that there are a number of economic factors at play including:
• The world economic downturn
• Variable performance by Caribbean tourism destinations
• The fact that hotels in some countries are discounting rates to an extent that others are not.
The figures are further complicated by the fact that some airlines and tour operators have been absorbing up to now, the 1 November 2009 increase to offset consumer price sensitivity.
DOWNLOAD FULL NOV. 2010 CTO REPORT
Videos with interviews with Hugh Riley, Allen Chastenet on APD (done June 16th, 2011)
APD - A Tax Too Far
Watch Interview on TravelMole.com with Hugh Riley: http://www.travelmole.tv/watch_vdo.php?sid=&id=15097