The Citizens Against High Intra-Regional Caribbean Travel Taxes are pleased to announce that our Change.org petition has reached 10,000 signatures. The issue of Taxes, Fees and Charges (TFCs) in air transport has been a source of controversy globally. Regional travel is the platform for growth and sustaining education, commerce, the creative and tourism sectors among many other industries, but high and increasing TFCs have contributed to the decline in intra-regional travel in recent years. When added to the basic fares of carriers TFCS serve to make overall ticket prices markedly more expensive since the majority are passed onto passengers.
Numerous studies have predicted that if governments were to reduce TFCs, intra-regional Caribbean travel would increase significantly with attendant improvement in the economic performance of those countries that reduce TFCs. The greater the increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the more likely there will be a positive net financial impact, where additional tax revenue generated by increasing economic activity would rival the foregone TFC revenue. In other words, over time the increase in travel will likely see governments collect other tax revenue similar to the amount lost by reducing TFCs. This would manifest in the form of revenue increases from existing taxes in the economy (E.g. Sales Tax/Value Added Tax (VAT)).
Beyond economic considerations, at the heart of fostering regional integration is the need for rich personal and cultural exchanges among individuals across our islands and mainland territories. It is in consideration of these and other factors that this campaign seeks to raise public consciousness, galvanize solidarity with individuals and civil society groups and to work in partnership with regional governments to act in the best interest of the region by reducing the exorbitant taxes which cripple regional travel. Through this release we hope to enlist the support of the media and citizens across the Caribbean and in the diaspora to help us reach our next target of 15 000 signatures. Sign and share the petition here – http://chng.it/8PG6qprMqR
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Not sure how far that would get. Might be easier to vote for new governments.
LMAO! Way to kill optimism. Don’t be a Denny Downer LOL
So how will the new shiny Airports be paid for? How about a petition to create an inter-region high speed ferry service?
That is an even longer shot. Hundreds of Millions would have to be invented in infrastructure to make this a reality. Plus we live in the age of “now” who do you think is gonna sit on a boat to Barbados for 16 hours when they could get there in 1 and a half by plane. And the ticket prices will work out pretty close. That idea is a none starter.
It’s asking for the taxes to be removed from REGIONAL airfare prices not international. The shiny airports will still get paid for
Although i do agree that the fees are high and need to be looked at-i am not too sure that even if the Taxes are lowered that it will increase Inter-regional travel significantly . Most of our people are only interested in traveling to North America and Europe,we will need a change of mindsets also,before we can see significant changes in terms of travel within the region..
JHA I disagree. Many Caribbean people would like to explore their Neighbors. The fact remains in many cases it is less expensive to travel to North America than to another Caribbean island. And that is what this petition is trying to fix.
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