Concrete proof of APD’s impact needed

IT IS important for Governments in the Caribbean to show proof that the Airline Passenger Duty (APD) has had and is continuing to have a negative impact on tourist arrivals to the region before any other measures can be taken.

This is coming from Mark Simmonds, UK Minister for Africa, the Overseas Territories, the Caribbean and International Energy, who spoke with Barbadian media recently at a reception at the British High Commissioner’s Residence at Ben Mar.

British High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean,
Paul Brummell; Barbados' Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy; and
UK Minister for Africa, the Overseas Territories, the Caribbean and
International Energy in the UK, Mark Simmonds, in conversation at a
reception at the British High Commissioner's residence, Ben Mar, last week.

He said that so far evidence has shown that the APD has not had this negative impact, but if this verification can be given by the respective regional Governments, they then would look into it.

“The evidence to date is that it hasn’t, but I understand that there is an enormous amount of concern that exists within the Caribbean that the Air Passenger Duty may have a negative impact on tourism and certainly, what I have done is to facilitate the meeting to take place with the Treasury in the United Kingdom to ensure that those concerns are listened and heard.

“But the next step is for Caribbean countries and Governments to produce evidence – if it is actually true – that there is a direct link between a drop in tourist numbers if that is what has happened with the Air Passenger Duty and if that evidence is produced, we would keep these things under constant review,” he asserted.

He said that the United Kingdom has had its own issues to deal with in relation to the global financial crisis and this APD that has been instituted by the current administration is one of their ways to bring the UK out of this crisis.

“The first thing to say to that is that we in the UK have our own economic challenges as well, so we have to find mechanisms to reduce the structural deficit that David Cameron’s government has inherited,” he said.

However, he stated that he has led discussions with the High Commissioners from the various islands so that they could express their concerns.

He continued, “The second thing to say is that we have been – and I have been very personally – involved in listening to the concerns of Caribbean countries as it relates to Air Passenger Duty and I have facilitated a meeting between the Caribbean High Commissioners and the relative Treasury Minister at the back end of last year.”

The APD is an excise duty for persons travelling on any aeroplane which has more than 20 seats for passengers or exceeding an official take-off weight of more than ten tonnes from an airport anywhere in the United Kingdom. It has been a major source of contention, particularly within the Caribbean where it is believed that this would have a negative impact on tourism.

Simmonds added that he recognises the concerns that persons in the region have and the matter was raised in discussions he had with Barbadian dignitaries including Prime Minister Freundel Stuart; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Senator Maxine McClean; Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite; and Minister of Energy, Senator Darcy Boyce. (PJT)