CARICOM to impose US$2 fee on visitors from outside region

St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and the other CARICOM countries may soon have additional money for use in marketing themselves as tourist destinations.

This, as CARICOM fine-tunes the specifics of a proposed US$2 fee to be imposed on visitors from outside the region.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, who has just returned from the 29th Inter-sessional meeting of CARICOM Heads of State and Government, held on February 26 and 27 in Haiti, mentioned the proposed fee on Monday at a press briefing at Cabinet Room.

He said that CARICOM discussed the development of what they are calling the Caribbean Tourism Development and Marketing Initiative.

“This matter has been around for some time, as we have tourism on the agenda on a permanent basis, because of its importance to our economies and it is an important growth area.”

He said it is being proposed that the US$2 fee be put into a fund to pay for Caribbean marketing, but several countries have different ideas.

“Some wanted it to be split between marketing and security; some don’t want security to be part of it; some want to run their own brand. There are all kinds of different cross currents, but hopefully in Jamaica in July, we will come to a conclusion on this matter,” said Gonsalves.

Such a fee will help to boost the marketing coffers of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority (SVGTA) and the Ministry of Tourism, as both entities have in the past complained of a miniscule marketing budget, compared with that of other Caribbean countries.