Wednesday, June 21, 2006

NEW YORK, USA: Caribbean tourism officials are pushing for an additional extension to the implementation date of the United States Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).

The WHTI, which is due to take effect on January 1, 2007, will make it mandatory for all Americans returning to the United States from the Caribbean and other countries in the Western Hemisphere to have a passport to enter the country.

Regional tourism officials, working through the Caribbean Community Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) and Caribbean ambassadors in Washington, D.C., successfully argued against the original implementation date of Jan. 1, 2006, saying it put the region at a disadvantage, since Americans returning from Mexico and Canada by air would not need a passport before January 1, 2007. Those returning from the two US border countries by land have been given an additional year, and will require a passport by January 1, 2008.

But, Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), said that the region would still be at a disadvantage if the passport law were enforced starting January 1, 2007.

Vanderpool-Wallace said regional tourism officials have been meeting with senior US officials in the Caribbean who have agreed to press the Caribbean’s case in Washington, D.C.

“The reason for a further postponement must be that the pick up of new passports by US citizens has been nowhere near the numbers that we would like to see,” he told journalist gathered in New York for the closing of Caribbean Week 2006.

“We recognize that we have an added problem which is that so many people have been so accustomed for so long to waking in the morning and deciding to go to the Caribbean because they didn’t need a passport, that there has to be an extensive campaign to let a lot more people know about this new requirement,” he added.

The CTO secretary general said the October date by which the US government intended to begin its educational campaign was too late for the Caribbean.

In the meantime, while pushing for a postponement of the implementation date, the Caribbean is undertaking its own educational campaign, advising Americans of the importance of getting a passport and how to go about getting one, Vanderpool-Wallace said.

As part of the educational campaign, the CTO was able to get the assistance of The New York Times, which is running a series of advertisements at its own expense. CTO also secured the cooperation of the United States Postal Service (USPS), which set up a booth at the Caribbean Week 2006 Fair, to facilitate passport applications. The USPS will also be present at other such CTO public events across the United States.

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