Air Passenger Duty
The Chancellor of the Exchequer's budget announcement that Air Passenger Duty will not rise this year is a small but important victory for the Caribbean.
The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) is pleased with the 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.
ACTS Brussels
Caribbean tourism leaders and European Union (EU) officials have ended the first Caribbean tourism summit in the European capital with a greater understanding of each other’s concerns regarding the tourism sector. A delegation of regional tourism leaders – led by the chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) the Hon. Ricky Skerritt, and including tourism ministers from five other Caribbean countries, came to the heart of Europe’s decision-making machinery to stress the importance of a policy agenda towards tourism.