British Government's Caribbean Tourism Policy Workshop Focuses on Concrete Proposals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lorraine J. Ortiz-Valcárcel 
T: 787.725.9139 / E: Lortiz@caribbeanhotels.org 
 
BRITISH GOVERNMENT'S CARIBBEAN TOURISM POLICY WORKSHOP FOCUSES
ON CONCRETE PROPOSALS 
 
LONDON, United Kingdom (November 18, 2003) - The Caribbean tourism policy 
workshop hosted on November 6 and 7, 2003, by the British Foreign and 
Commonwealth Office, is expected to move tourism further up the political 
agenda in Europe and the Caribbean.  
 
The regional tourism private sector delegation, led by the President of the 
Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) Simón Suárez, noted that the conference had 
offered a first ever opportunity to CHA to make in Europe a significant 
contribution to the multi-lateral exchange of views on the challenges that 
the Caribbean tourism industry faces and the search for solutions.  "CHA is 
fully committed to follow up with specific actions on behalf of the Caribbean 
tourism private sector," said Suárez.
 
The CHA President expressed gratitude to the conference chairman, Bill 
Rammell, the Minister responsible for Britain's relations with the 
Caribbean.  "We were delighted with the way he focused on the concrete areas 
where the UK government might be able to assist our industry," said Suárez.
 
In bringing the two-day meeting to closure, the Hon. Minister Rammell 
undertook to examine the following proposals with his colleagues within the 
British Government:
1.      A study on the taxation of Caribbean tourism, to be based on the 
principle that tourism is an export industry;
2.      A study on the development of a regional cruise policy, to include 
proposals to integrate the cruise sector with land-based tourism and to 
assess the environmental impact of cruise tourism in the Caribbean;
3.      The establishment of a "Friends of Tourism" group at the World Trade 
Organization (WTO), for coordinating positions in the GATS services 
negotiations on tourism;
4.      The funding of a tourism specialist within the Caribbean Regional 
Negotiating Machinery (CRNM);
5.      Identification of funding possibilities to enhance regional 
marketing.
 
Suárez stressed that in particular, the two proposed studies are highly 
relevant and urgent. "Regarding the study on taxation, the private sector 
view is that the objective of this work should be to identify measures to 
increase the global competitiveness of our industry by considering issues 
such as profitability, investment incentives, operating costs as well as 
taxation," he said.
 
The CHA also made the case for the political support of the UK on a number of 
proposals: advocating for an urgent revision of the European Commission's 
policy on promoting tourism in African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) 
countries, to take account of the fundamental changes in the global tourism 
marketplace;  the positioning of Caribbean tourism as a recipient of European 
Development Fund (EDF) resources for programs aimed at sustainable tourism 
development; and the establishment of a Tourism Investment Fund to harness 
the capital resources of the region. 
 
Following the meeting, the CHA wrote to Minister Rammell and anticipates 
meeting with UK Government officials and the European Commission early in 
2004 to pursue the outcome of the meeting.
 
The meeting marked the first-ever policy workshop on tourism to be held by 
any European government.  Its broad objective was to better understand how 
tourism relates to European policy towards the Caribbean and how tourism can 
be made more central to the political, economic and development policy 
dialogue between all European Union capitals, the European Commission, and 
the Caribbean.  The event brought together representatives from CHA and CTO, 
along with Caribbean ministers and many senior figures from the tourism 
industry in the United Kingdom, as well as British Ministers, senior 
officials from the UK Government and the European Commission. 
 
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The Caribbean Hotel Association represents the entire spectrum of hospitality 
industry's private sector, from over 1,100 member hotels in 35 national hotel 
associations, to allied members including airlines, financial services, 
vacation ownership, tour operators, travel agents, trade and consumer press, 
suppliers, and others.