Houses for sale in Jamaica affected by tax on tourists?
Monday 26th of September 2011
Air Passenger Duty is stopping people flying to Jamaica from the Uk, according to one Jamaican newspaper.
The controversial tax has “made Jamaica a hard sell”, 20 Uk travel agents have said, with even regular visitors to the country deterred by the added cost. The comments, made at the Jamaica Product Exchange at Montego Bay, suggest that houses for sale in Jamaica, which depend on the tourism industry, may be affected.
“The APD has made it so much harder to sell the destination even though Jamaica has such a very good product,” a spokesman for London’s Newmont Travel said, adding: “The tax is at least 20 per cent more than the airfare to come to the Caribbean.”
With people who fly to Jamaica three or four times a year now only booking trips once, if at all, the APD is hampering Jamaica’s tourist industry, even as a campaign by travel agents tries to convince the Uk government to abolish the tax.
The APD was introduced in 1994, but was updated to a four-band system in 2009, and then increased again in November last year. The Jamaica Observer confirms that economy class passengers flying to the Caribbean now face a surcharge of £75 per ticket, with Jamaica categorised as more expensive than Hawaii.
As travel agents continue to
ask for a lower band of flight tax, turbulence may be ahead for Jamaica's tourism industry. The property market, meanwhile, will be hoping for clear skies.
