THE Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) has welcomed recent moves by Barbados and St. Lucia to reduce taxes on intra-regional travel—long seen as a major barrier to regional connectivity.
CHTA President Sanovnik Destang, along with other regional stakeholders, has been advocating for years to lower travel-related taxes, which often make ticket prices prohibitively expensive. In many cases, taxes account for more than the cost of the airfare itself.
Since taking over the regional body, Destang and his predecessor, Nicola Madden-Greig, have consistently lobbied for this change. The recent steps by Barbados and St. Lucia are being hailed as progress.
“We seem to have had a bit of a breakthrough, because I know that Barbados and St. Lucia both agreed that in this summer, from June to December, they’re gonna cut the taxes on regional travel in half, because Inter-Caribbean travel is very important now, given what we see geopolitically,” Destang told reporters at a press conference in St. Johns.
The announcement comes amid growing concerns over economic uncertainty and potential tariffs, with the U.S.—the region’s primary tourism source—facing a possible recession.
Speaking in Antigua and Barbuda from the CHTA’s Marketplace event, Destang emphasized the opportunity to boost intra-regional travel. He also revealed that Prime Minister Gaston Browne may consider following suit.
“Hopefully, we’re able to convince him, because he was not aware of what Barbados and St. Lucia had done. And he’s saying, would it be great if we could all cut our taxes on regional airlift? I said, ‘well, funny you said that, two of us have’.”
Discussions are ongoing, with urgency, as industry experts point to airport modernization and expansion costs as contributing factors behind high travel fees.
In response to a question from SKNVibes News about further government commitments, Destang clarified:
“St. Lucia and Barbados are cutting their taxes in half to 50% for intra-Caribbean travel from June to December. They have announced that. Have we gotten commitments? Not anything that is legislated. Even St. Lucia’s own, was a budget announcement. The legislation still has to go through. I think Barbados’ own is already through.”
The issue was a key topic at this week’s Marketplace forum, and Destang expressed optimism that it would not be another “talkshop” with no follow-through.