Caribbean not done lobbying against Britain air departure tax

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, St. Thomas — Although the Air Passenger Duty (APD), the U.K.’s air departure tax, on travel to the Caribbean will be the same amount as the tax on travel to the U.S, effective April 1, “the fight to lower that tax or at least to keep it from increasing is not over,” said Hugh Riley, secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

CTO and other organizations had long lobbied the U.K. government to either abolish the high tax or place the Caribbean in the same category as the U.S. Currently, economy-class travelers from the U.K. to the Caribbean pay 83 British pounds (about $135), and travelers going from the U.K. to the U.S. pay 67 pounds (about $110). On April 1, the tax on U.S. travel rises to $69 pounds.

Riley said that CTO is pleased that the playing field has been leveled between the Caribbean and the U.S., but that it is still “very expensive for family and diaspora travel to the Caribbean.”

“There are efforts continuing to grow the coalition of voices to be raised in opposition to the APD,” he said.

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CTO announced that Curacao has been selected as the site of its State of the Industry Conference in October 2015.

The conference venue rotates each year to showcase the diversity of the region.

The 2012 event took place in St. Kitts, 2013 in Martinique. This year’s confab took place in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.