Target Caribbean tourists, says regional expert

Tourism-dependent destinations in the Caribbean are being advised to look more to regional travel to boost their tourism product post COVID-19.

At the same time, former Minister of Tourism and Aviation in the Bahamas Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace is suggesting that governments consider reducing taxes on intra-regional travel to encourage more movement among CARICOM residents.

Insisting that he was not anti-taxes, Vanderpool-Wallace said distance and proximity should be considered when taxes are being implemented, adding that the cost of travel in the region was “outrageously high” because of the taxes and fees.

He argued that if governments were to reduce their charges on travel in the region there would be more traffic. “You will suddenly find a lot more business travel, a lot more tourist travel and a lot more higher occupancies leading to a lot more employment and more tax collection by the Government,” he said.

“I am convinced that the fastest way for us to get our regional carriers profitable and much more expansive, is to begin to look at the cost of fixed taxes that we charge in this region,” he added.

Vanderpool-Wallace, who is the founder and principal partner at the travel tourism and hospitality services firm Bedford Baker Group, expressed disappointment that regional authorities were not collecting more digital data on visitors.

He argued that having certain data including visitors’ likes and dislikes would be critical at this time to help countries quickly rebuild their tourism product by taking a more targeted approach.

“One of the things I find is that we never paid enough attention to is people from our diaspora, to invite them to come back. They are likely to be the people to come back in our communities once they understand and know we have the all clear,” he noted.

Meanwhile taxation and business strategist Allison Peart said she believed regional destinations were competing too much with each other instead of collaborating. She added that countries should do more advertising and marketing campaigns geared towards CARICOM nationals.

“If we really are serious about moving around CARICOM nationals, we need to truly get all the governments working together to see how best, whether it is tax, whether it is subsidies, coming and running an efficient airline that doesn’t just cater to the needs of your country but the needs of the region,” added Peart.

“We should also look at boats. How beautiful would it be to get some kind of ferry system? We need to start looking outside of the box, not just look at airlines. But I think it has to be a joint approach. It can’t just be Jamaica or Trinidad. We need the entire Caribbean . . . we need our governments to wake up and listen to what we are saying,” she said.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb