CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC:
WORLD TRAVEL and Tourism Council (WTTC) study claims that US$2.6 billion of visitor export earnings and more than 188,000 travel and tourism jobs will be destroyed by new United States passport regulations.
The WTTC examined those figures against visitor export earnings in the region, which totalled US$20.7 billion.
Effective January 1, 2006, United States citizens visiting the Caribbean will be required to possess a valid U.S. passport to re-enter the country. The U.S. made the change for security,
reasoning that it was an anomaly for its citizens to be travelling
internationally without a passport.
Commissioned by the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA), the study was presented to the Caribbean Tourism Organisation's board of directors' meeting in New York this week.
The study considered the market share of visitors from the United States to the Caribbean and the percentage of those visitors that do not use a valid U.S. passport.
A PERMANENT REALIGNMENT
CHA President Berthia Parle, said: "CHA can appreciate U.S. concern for its security, but cannot lose sight of the impact of the new regulations on Caribbean travel and tourism, which will be a permanent realignment of traffic with spontaneous, last-minute travel significantly reduced."
"Our position advocates an extension of time for the Caribbean to the same introductory date as Mexico and Canada January 1, 2008 to allow the region to
prepare better," she added.
Acknowledging that the U.S. had a right to be concerned about security, WTTC President Jean-Claude Baumgarten, said its government should consider the wider economic impact: "The United States' new passport requirement for the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada is likely to change the nature of regional travel and tourism and cause significant hardship for several destinations that have grown to rely on a more open movement of visitors."
He also noted that the U.S. passport issue is one of those that must be clearly reviewed and discussed with travel and tourism leaders to mitigate the impact.
The research is expected to provide hotel associations in the Caribbean and their local governments with reliable data to support their lobbying efforts.
