Caribbean Officials Reject Further 8% Rise In UK Air Passenger Duty

Category: Connect Created on Monday, 02 April 2012 07:11

Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation Sen. Richard Skerritt, and other Caribbean tourism officials continue rejecting the decision of the British government to increase, starting Sunday, a tax on British holidaymakers.

Last week, the United Kingdom government confirmed that the Air Passenger Duty (APD) will rise by 8 percent as of April 1, despite several criticisms of the initiative.

“This measure will affect the economy of our area,” noted Skerritt, who is also St Kitts and Nevis Minister of Tourism.

“The APD has contributed to the decrease in British tourists visiting our country and also the members of the Caribbean community in the United Kingdom have reduced their trips to the region,” pointed out Skerritt.

According to secretary general of the Caribbean Association of Hotels and Tourism, Alec Sanguinetti, nearly 1,373,600 tourists from the United Kingdom visited the region in 2007, while in 2010, that number dropped to 1,103,400.

Recent statistics from the British Airways, which flies to St Kitts from London-Gatwick on Tuesdays and Saturdays, brought in 8,329 passengers in 2011, compared to 7,822, an increase of 6.48 percent or 507 more passengers.

Picture credit by rainaviationblog