NEGRIL, Westmoreland – The Negril chapter of JUTA has received backing from the town’s chamber of commerce in its lobbying of the government to repeal the recent tax hike on the hotel sector, which led to the cancellation by Sandals Resorts International of the guest transportation agreement with the cooperative.

At the same time, Clive Gordon, head of Negril chapter of JUTA (Jamaica Union of Travellers Association), has called an extraordinary meeting of the association for today to explain to the general membership the implications of the termination of the contract, which takes effect yearend.

“We definitely will use the meeting to make the membership get a better understanding of the effects the termination will have on them and to decide from there the next course of action,” Gordon told the Observer last night.

He added that a national board meeting of the association has been called for Monday at which time a number of strategies will be devised to lobby the government to roll back the tax.

At today’s meeting representatives from Sandals International Resorts, Negril Chamber of Commerce and junior tourism minister Wykeham McNeill are expected to be in attendance.

Meanwhile, Negril Chamber president Wayne Cummings, described the increased tax imposed on the hotel sector by the government as “an attack on the small independent players in the transportation sector in favour of the established larger players in the business”.

On Tuesday Sandals Resorts International announced that as of December 31, the hotel chain would withdraw transportation from its all-inclusive package because it must now pay general consumption tax (GCT) on airport transfers.

In October, the government raised the GCT charged on the tourism sector from 6.25 per cent, to 8.25 per cent.

If hotels decide to offer their guests transfers to and from airports and other transportation tours and build that cost into their room rates, the GCT will apply.

However, GCT does not apply to ground transportation generally. So a guest who independently books ground transportation does not pay the tax.

Neither is the GCT applied if the tour operator who books the hotel, separately books the transportation.