 Jamaica
and tourism industry tackle Air Passenger Duty tax
in London
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding, the
island’s tourism Minister,
Edmund Bartlett, and a delegation comprising the
acting Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism
Organisation, Hugh Riley, the Director General of
the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, Alec
Sanguinetti, and the Chairman of the Jamaica Tourist
Board, John Lynch, visited the UK from 16-19 June
for a series of meetings regarding the proposed
changes to UK Air Passenger Duty (APD).
This
is a duty that the UK currently imposes on all passengers
departing from UK airports. In the case of the Caribbean
and all non-European destinations it is presently
set at £40 (US$62) on an economy (coach) ticket.
The tax was designed to account for aviation’s
impact on the
environment but to date no one can show how the
£2 billion (US$3.1 billion) that is collected
is being used to this end.
Last
November the UK made known that it planned in the
context of its annual budget a number of significant
changes by introducing distance-related banding.
For the Caribbean they proposed that anyone travelling
in coach from the UK will pay 25 per cent more (US$
112 or £50) from 1 November 2009 and 87 per
cent more (US$ 117 or £75) from 1 November
2010. Higher rates apply in Premium Economy, Club
and First.
Extraordinarily,
the tax is to be levied in a manner that is discriminatory
‘for reasons of administrative ease’
and will give preference to the United States over
the Caribbean by determining that all of the US
(even Hawaii) is ‘closer’ to London
than all of the Caribbean.
Not only will this place the Caribbean at a disadvantage
over destinations such as Florida, but will also
result in ticket prices for the Caribbean Diaspora
in Britain increasing significantly; making the
frequent travel by family and friends hugely more
expensive.
Meetings with Peers and MPs As part of an intense
programme coordinated by the Caribbean Council,
the Prime Minister and the delegation met with Peers
at a meeting hosted by Lord Grocott and
chaired by Baroness Amos. The Jamaican leader then
went on to meet in Parliament with an all party
group of MP’s representing constituencies
with significant numbers of voters from the Caribbean
Diaspora. The meeting with MP’s, which was
chaired by Diane Abbott MP (pictured)
focussed on the discriminatory aspects of the APD
legislation and the need to identify ways to re-band
the Caribbean so that it was not taxed at a higher
level that the US.
During the meetings, the delegation argued that
the proposed structure of the APD, in which countries
are placed in charging bands determined by the distance
of their capital city from London, was discriminatory,
in that it favoured large developed countries over
smaller ones.
A consequence of the meeting is that MPs are expected
to table an amendment supportive of the Caribbean
interests when the bill
containing the measure goes back to Parliament on
July7/8
Following the Prime Minister’s return to Jamaica,
the delegation met with travel industry leaders
including; Jim Forster, British Airways’ General
Manager Regulatory & Government Affairs; Andy
Cooper, Head of Business Development and Consumer
Affairs ABTA & FTO, and the Head of the World
Travel & Tourism Council, Jean-Claude Baumgarten
to discuss the impact of the increase in APD on
the travel industry. Minister Bartlett met separately
with Conservative MP Greg Hands, who has recently
been critical in Parliament of the banding scheme
and is supportive of the Caribbean’s case
for change.
Commenting after his meetings, Minister Bartlett
said: “The increased tax is inherently unfair
and not the least bit ‘green’”.
“The structure of APD as an environmental
tax suggests that the impact of a flight to Jamaica
or Barbados is greater than one to Miami, Los Angeles
or Honolulu. Why should Caribbean countries with
relatively low emissions suffer the effects of an
environmental tax, in favour of the world’s
biggest polluter?”.
The changes will particularly be felt by UK voters
of Caribbean descent. The UK has a large and vibrant
Caribbean community, many of whom visit friends
and family in the region regularly so the fact that
a family of four would have to pay £300 in
tax alone under the proposed scheme will hit the
Diaspora hard.
During the visit the delegation met with a number
of Diaspora activists to discuss how they can assist
in lobbying against the new scheme and spent time
sensitising the media to the Caribbean’s concerns.
The proposed changes to Air Passenger Duty are contained
in the 2009 Finance Bill which is currently before
the House of Commons.
Have
your Say!
The
Caribbean Tourism Organisation and others are encouraging
the Caribbean Diaspora in teh Uk to write to their
MP's on this issue befor eit is next debated on
7 July. A sample letter and factsheet about APD
can be downloaded below
Letter
to MP from Caribbean Constituent
Air
Passenger Duty Factsheet
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