BARBADOS HOTELIER Adrian Loveridge is supporting the region’s efforts to have the air passenger duty (APD) being put forward by the United Kingdom Government reviewed.
Speaking to the Barbados Advocate yesterday Loveridge explained that in his opinion the APD is not being levied equitably.
“I am against any form of taxes to be honest, that will make the destination more expensive, but we also have to look at it from the British perspective. If you buy an airline ticket here in Barbados we pay 15 per cent VAT, Britain of course has no VAT on air travel, but they have a desperate economic condition and they are trying to maximise the revenue from all over. So I am not opposed to the tax as such, what I am opposed to is how it is being levied. It is not in my calculation, being done on a fair basis. So someone coming on a plane to Barbados, would not be the same as someone going to Hawaii, which is double the distance and so I think a more equitable tax needs to be applied,” he suggested.
He continued, “I was reading recently that if it goes up by more than £25 as it is proposed to do in November, then 30 per cent of the Brits that are planning to go on a foreign holiday will not go, so there is a fine line”.
The hotelier added that while that 30 per cent will not necessarily all come to Barbados and the Caribbean, it will indeed have a negative impact on us, given that many of our visitors, especially those to this island, originate from the United Kingdom (UK).
“For those potential visitors, it will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The Brits are right now facing an increase in VAT, costs overall have been rising steadily, many of them are operating on a reduced income, many have been unable to service mortgages etc., so there will come a point where people will say, ‘I will stay at home instead of paying all of these taxes’,” he pointed out.
He continued, “Added to that, the average economy airfare is about £500 at the moment, £280 of that already amounts to taxes and add-ons, so the poor airline is only getting about £220 and governments are getting the rest, including our own with one of the highest departure taxes in the region”. (JRT)
Source: The Advocate