Caribbean Tourism Head Tax Proposal Attracts Further Criticism

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

13 October 2003

The Caribbean Tourism Organisation's (CTO) proposal to slap a $20 per passenger head tax on visitors arriving in the region by cruise ship has attracted further criticism from the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) during its tenth annual conference, which took place in the Netherland Antilles.

Speaking to reporters after the official opening of the conference, FCCA chairman Micky Arison said that government officials should concentrate on promoting their destinations rather than focusing on how much revenue they can raise from the cruise operators and tourists. "You don't promote investments by increasing taxes. You do the exact opposite. If you want to promote investment, you should decrease taxes to airlines, hotels," he argued.

The FCCA chairman explained that several islands have already negotiated head tax agreements with his organisation, and said that the CTO had no right to "tear up" these arrangements. He added that the FCCA will continue to discuss new contracts as well as renegotiate old ones.

Arison's remarks follow criticism last month by the FCCA President Michelle Paige in an interview reported by the Caribbean Media Association, in which she argued that taxation "was a major disincentive to travel".

She added the head tax proposal had been the subject of widespread opposition throughout the region's governments: "Prime Minister Douglas of St. Kitts, has indicated that he is not in favour of the proposed tax, Minister Bush from the Cayman Islands, Commissioner Highlander of St. Maarten, and other numerous destinations have indicated that they are not in favour of the tax," Paige announced, according to the CMC report.

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