Search Result for: hotel tax

227 results found.

Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin Concludes Quebec Visit

Above: UNESCO’s Michaelle Jean, Quebec City Mayor Pascal Labeaume and Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin By the Caribbean Journal staff Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin has returned to the country following a two-day official visit to Canada. The visit included […]

Rediscovering the Caribbean in Vieques

Above: Vieques (All photos by CJ) By Alexander Britell VIEQUES — I’m in a taxi with a couple from Boston that just arrived here from the neighbouring island of Culebra. “I hear they’ve got great beaches there,” I say. Quickly, […]

Vanderpool-Wallace: The Missing Link For Tourism in the Caribbean

By Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace CJ Contributor TOURISM MINISTERS and Commissioners and their counterparts in the private sector in the Caribbean have come to see that the region’s tourism industry is vastly underperforming compared to the potential that they see. Hotel occupancies […]

UNWTO’s Vogeler: British APD “Needs to Be Addressed”

Above: a British Airways flight By Alexander Britell PORT OF SPAIN — The United Kingdom’s Air Passenger Duty, a tax levied on flights originating in the country, “creates an obstacle to job creation and economic growth” in many destinations, including […]

JetBlue and the Caribbean: An Interview With Chad Meyerson

By Alexander Britell With American Eagle’s departure from the Caribbean, there will be a sizable void to fill. As we’ve covered of late, small carriers like Cape Air are increasing capacity and looking to capitalize on the ever-present demand for […]

Tobago Tourism Increased By 4.3 Percent in 2012: Report

Above: the beach at the Magdalena Grand resort in Tobago By the Caribbean Journal staff Almost 963,000 visitors came to Tobago in 2012, an increase of 4.3 percent, according to data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization. The numbers were announced […]

CHTA President Richard Doumeng Talks Caribbean Travel

Above: the Bolongo Bay Resort in St Thomas By Alexander Britell On Thursday, the long-awaited redesign of caribbeantravel.com officially launched. The new site, viewed as a new kind of portal for the Caribbean travel market, comes as the region faces […]

CSHAE Elects Leadership for 2013-14

Above: the Atlantis Resort By the Caribbean Journal staff The Caribbean Society of Hotel Association Executives recently elected its new officers for the 2013-2014 term. The elections took place at the organization’s Annual General Meeting ahead of the Caribbean Travel […]

CHTA, CTO Urge End to British APD Following PricewaterhouseCoopers Report

Above: a British Airways flight By Alexander Britell Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association President Richard Doumeng and Caribbean Tourism Organization Chairman Beverly NIcholson-Doty are calling for an end to the British Air Passenger Duty following the release of a study […]

Talking Trinidad Tourism With the TDC’s Cornell Buckradee

Above: Cornell Buckradee (CJ Photo) By Alexander Britell PARADISE ISLAND — Trinidad began to see growth out of the downturn in 2011, with 2012 showing similar improvement. But the Caribbean tourism market faces challenges to return to its pre-2008 levels. […]

Talking Real Estate in St Barth With Sibarth’s Christian Wattiau

Above: a home in St Barth (Photo: Jean-Philippe Piter) By Alexander Britell Just like the rest of the Caribbean, tiny St Barth’s real estate market was impacted by the downturn that began in 2008. But the eight-square-mile island in the […]

Richard Doumeng: Investing Now to Promote the Caribbean Brand

By Richard Doumeng CJ Contributor Now is the time for the Caribbean to come together and reclaim its throne as the number one warm-weather destination in the world. The possibilities to brand and promote the “Caribbean” are endless, the CHTA […]

Simpson Miller: Jamaica “Working as Hard as Possible” on IMF Agreement

Above: Jamaica PM Portia Simpson Miller By the Caribbean Journal staff Jamaica Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and the country’s cabinet concluded a retreat held this weekend at Jamaica House, the Prime Minister announced in a statement Sunday night. The […]

Interview with Grenada Minister of Tourism Dr George Vincent

By Alexander Britell ST KITTS — As the Caribbean seeks to diversify its “sun, sand and sea” tourism product, Grenada, the “Spice Isle,” is taking a unique approach, looking at “community tourism,” in which the government aims both to foster […]

Haiti Launches Tourism Week

Above: Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin (second from right) visiting the under-construction Best Western hotel in Petion-Ville (Photo: MT Haiti) By the Caribbean Journal staff Haiti launches its Tourism Week beginning Sunday as part of a series of activities to […]

Op-Ed: Working Together to Promote the Caribbean Tourism Brand

By Richard Doumeng Op-Ed Contributor 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA). It’s also a time of continuing challenges for tourism in the region. A prolonged state of economic uncertainty in the world. Airlift […]

Interview With Barbados Energy Minister Senator Darcy Boyce

Above: Minister Darcy Boyce (CJ Photo) By Alexander Britell Like the rest of the Caribbean, Barbados is working to deal with the problem of increasing energy costs. With imported fuel dominating foreign exchange and the accordant high gas prices putting […]

St Lucia Prime Minister Explains VAT

Above: St Lucia Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony By the Caribbean Journal staff St Lucia Prime Minister Dr Kenny Anthony explained the soon-to-be-implemented Value Added Tax in his budget address this week, clarifying a set of goods and services that […]

St Lucia Continues Preparations for VAT

By the Caribbean Journal staff Continuing its preparation for the implementation of VAT in September, the St Lucian government is holding a series of discussions with stakeholder groups to ensure that the interest of all sectors are attended to. This […]

Interview with US Virgin Islands Delegate Donna Christensen on Health Care, HOVENSA

Above: US Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen (Photo: WH) By Alexander Britell The US Virgin Islands is in one of the most challenging periods in its history, in large part due to the closure of the HOVENSA oil […]

Interview with Francis Fonseca, Candidate for Prime Minister of Belize

By Alexander Britell BELIZEANS HEAD TO THE POLLS Wednesday to choose their next government — deciding between Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s ruling United Democratic Party and the Opposition People’s United Party, led by Francis Fonseca, which is looking to return […]

New “Chamber” for Jamaican Agriculture

Above: Senator Norman Grant and Minister of State Ian Hayles (JIS Photo) By the Caribbean Journal staff The Jamaica Agricultural Society has established a new forum in a bid to improve dialogue in the sector dubbed “The Chamber.” The forum, […]

The Caribbean in 2012

What’s in store for the Caribbean in 2012? In our Year in Review, we looked at the big stories of 2011, from the continued influence of China to the growth of green energy in the region. To find out more […]

The Caribbean Year in Review

For the Caribbean, it was the Year of the Vote. By year’s end, five countries, Jamaica, Guyana, St Lucia and Haiti and the British Virgin Islands, will have chosen new leadership, with Jamaicans headed to the polls on Thursday. It […]

A New Dawn for Haiti Tourism?

Above: Cayes-Jacmel (Photo: HTO) By Maura R. O’Connor CJ Contributor When Dominican business entrepreneur Frank Ranieri wanted to get involved in tourism in the 1970s, he crossed the border into Haiti to see how it was done. “[Haiti’s tourism] was […]

Interview with Turks and Caicos Chief Financial Officer Hugh McGarel-Groves

By Alexander Britell Turks and Caicos has embarked on a series of measures aimed at returning stability both to the country’s economy and the government’s financial position. Now, Chief Financial Officer Hugh McGarel-Groves is cautiously optimistic, predicting that the government’s […]

Grenada Looks to Tourism Ambassadors

By Lincoln Depradine The Grenadian government is considering initiatives to attract “bona fide” investors to the country and generate greater employment opportunities. The initiatives were revealed Tuesday during the unveiling of a new strategic plan for taking Grenada’s tourism industry […]

Interview with Gordon “Butch” Stewart

Above: Gordon “Butch” Stewart (Photo: CJ) By Alexander Britell Gordon “Butch” Stewart is one of Jamaica’s leading businessmen and a pioneer in the hospitality industry. Stewart is the chairman or owner of more than a dozen companies, including Sandals, Beaches […]

In Punta Cana, an All-Inclusive Designed With Multi-Generational Travel in Mind