There are different versions, but my favourite is when the ‘going gets tough, the tough get creative’. It probably comes from spending most of my working life trying to turn tiny marketing budgets into big picture realities. What prompted this was reading the classified section of the local papers and seeing one of our accommodation competitors renting its rooms by the hour.
Concluding that this property is targeting a particular niche clientele, we cannot let any market share be eroded. We think therefore that in many cases, hourly rates might be to optimistic, so of course the obvious answer is to offer a per-minute rate.
Flippancy aside now is the time, more than ever, with a tourism driven economy we have to explore every possible opportunity to recover lost ground.
It’s hard to imagine how Willie Walsh the CEO of British Airways could have been any more supportive to try and limit any increases in the APD (Advanced Passenger Duty) next month.
His various comments were carried locally, regionally and internationally, appearing in every major circulation newspaper in the United Kingdom. Not only is it a direct threat to the world’s most tourism dependent economies here in the Caribbean, but as Mr. Walsh pointed out, it has potentially a devastating effect on employment and airline growth in Britain.
Together with the concerted effort of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Ministers of Tourism throughout the region, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association and various other tourism trade bodies, any British politician who has had not heard the passionate objections to the tax or planned increases must be hiding under a very large rock.
Clearly, as someone that makes my living from tourism, I share their objections, but sadly the new UK coalition Government can argue the issue. ‘We’, are asking a sovereign Nation to remove or reduce taxes based on the premise that these increases will further erode the arrival of British long stay visitor numbers.
But, isn’t this the same argument that many of us in the industry have been pleading for Caribbean Government’s to reduce or eliminate the high taxes imposed on intra regional travel?
The justification for our departure tax, one of the highest in the Caribbean, is said to support financially the cost of the airport infrastructure and operational costs.
But if this is the case, why isn’t the same principal applied to the seaport?
How much does the average embarking cruise ship passenger pay in tax when joining at Bridgetown Port or transiting the facility?
Our Government charges 15 per cent VAT on all air travel purchased here.
What rate of VAT is charged on cruise packages?
We are always talking about equity and fairness, but if we are competing on a level playing field, then it has to be across the board.
Ultimately, Governments have to reach the conclusion that you can only extract taxes from people in so many ways. If you make a destination as being perceived as too expensive, those people will choose somewhere else to spend their already taxed income.
If they do not arrive, then Government does not collect VAT on accommodation, car rental, dining experiences, activities, attractions, shopping etc.
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