Antigua rejects cruise levy

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua: The Barbados Daily Nation reports that Antigua has again broken ranks with other Caribbean nations by refusing to join in a plan to introduce a levy on cruise ship passengers to the region. 

Earlier this month Antigua, having previously joined five other Caribbean countries supporting the International Criminal Court, announced it had signed a bilateral agreement with the United States and would not hand over Americans in its territory for war crimes or crimes against humanity. 

According to Minister of Tourism Molwyn Joseph, Antigua will not back other regional destinations in seeking to get cruise lines to institute a new US$20 levy on cruise tickets sold to passengers visiting the Caribbean. 

"We have looked at the situation and we are not convinced that the US$20 levy is in the best interest of Antigua and Barbuda at this time," said Joseph. 

Joseph added that Antigua had concerns about its own survival in the cruise tourism sector following a recent US$22 million investment in a new pier opened last year. 

"Any decision we make must be consistent with that investment," Joseph said. 

There are further reports that Dominica, facing major economic difficulties, may also back out of the Caribbean plan. 

However, Dominica's Minister of Tourism Charles Savarin sidestepped the issue. "We need to find a happy medium where that is concerned. There is significant room for discussion and consensus on the matter among all stakeholders," he said. 

CTO Secretary General Jean Holder said that he and other CTO executives would meet with regional ministers of tourism later this week to formally discuss the issue at the 26th CTO Conference in St Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. 

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