Janet Silvera, Senior Tourism Writer

Peterkin (left) and Smith (right)

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Caribbean has taken another hit with American territories, United States Virgin Islands (USVI) and Puerto Rico, breaking ranks by aggressively promoting their 'No U.S. passport' status, with the hope of luring visitors to their shores.

As of January 23, 2007, when the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) becomes effective, all Americans travelling to the Caribbean by air will be required to present a valid United States passport on entering the U.S.

However, Caribbean coun- tries USVI and Puerto Rico are exempted.

This is the second major shockwave to jerk the land-based operators who were devastated three months ago by the U.S. Congress' decision to grant a two-year exemption to cruise lines plying the region, giving them unfair advantage above their competitors.

The USVI promotion states, "The USVI Hotel & Tourism Association is offering a 'No Passport Required' promotion with savings all the way into 2007." The promotion offers visitors a minimum of a 20 per cent discount for 2007 on room rates at participating hotels.

Competitive advantage

"We are concerned. This now represents the second constituency that has come to enjoy a competitive advantage. The cruise industry got an advantage over our land-based sector by gaining a two-year exemption for its passengers. Now the USVI and Puerto Rico are capitalising on their special relationship with the U.S.," said the island's new director of tourism, Basil Smith.

"Clearly, we can expect to suffer by the extent to which the USVI and Puerto Rican promotions are successful. But the fact is that the regulation seems inevitable and it now seems that the only way to put this issue behind us is to go through it."

The Sunday Gleaner understands that it was the belief of the rest of the region that both the USVI and Puerto Rico were supporting the efforts of its neighbours and would have stayed the fight with the rest of the countries affected by the initiative. However, the tourism director confirmed that they had broken ranks, noting: "This is business and one can expect a competitor - friendly or otherwise - to exploit any real advantage in the marketplace ... And this is a real advantage, one that we wish we had ourselves."

He added: "I know the people who made the commitment not to exploit the advantage and I am sure they did so in good faith, but, I also expected that the tourism sectors of their respective economies would have been very uneasy with forfeiting the competitive advantage."

Reacting to the move by the U.S. tourism-based territories, the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association has responded, saying they are absolutely sure that the cruise sector will capitalise, using the same strategy.

"I suspect that they will try to find subtle ways to push the message to the market in the beginning, but once we have settled into the new paradigm, they will get more aggressive in their drive to win market share," JHTA President, Horace Peterkin, commented. "After all, the cruise sector did not spend US$2 million and one solid year of lobbying the U.S. Government for nothing."

Advantage

He described the development as a very potent advantage for the American Caribbean territories because it directly affects the potential traveller's wallet. "An adult passport cost US$97 and a child's US$82, which means that a family of four, without passports, can save nearly US$400 on a vacation of similar price in the USVI versus, say Jamaica."

He said the region should fight back, but in a sensible and responsible way. "The United States passport ruling is part of its Homeland Security's list of measures to protect its citizens from terrorism (on American soil). The non- U.S. Caribbean islands should offer to help the U.S. fast-track this objective by setting a one-year agenda requiring passports for all travellers."