ROSE HALL, St James — Tourism stakeholders last week blasted regional governments for imposing a raft of tax measures on the sector which they say are hurting the mainstay of Caribbean economies.

“Tourism is the engine of growth for the Caribbean and right now I think we are reaching the point where the level of taxation we have is excessive,” said Allen Chastanet, Chairman of Coco Palm Resort in St Lucia.

During the recent local budget presentation, Minister of Finance Dr Peter Phillips announced that the existing rate of 10 per cent General Consumption Tax (GCT) for the tourism sector would remain unchanged, while a specific GCT regime with rates of US$2 to US$12 per room per night would be introduced, based on the number of rooms at the hotels.

Following discussions between tourism officials and the JHTA, an agreement was brokered for a US$20 fee to be charged for each arriving passenger whose trip originated abroad, as of August 1, 2012, and a roll back of the room tax to US$1 to US$4.

Richard “Ricky” Skerritt, the St Kitts Minister of Tourism argued that the sector is not opposed to taxation, but there must be “constant analysis” and strategic ways of imposing such taxes, otherwise they could do more harm than good”.

“Not that there should not be fees and service charges and tax and the other things that Government desperately needs to fund the very important safety net that Government in this region must have in place and to put infrastructure in place for tourism etceteras and for our people quality of life,” he said. “But we have to be very careful where we go especially on an aviation sector that is minimally comfortable at best, that is struggling to deal with the increasing cost of fuel and other inputs that Governments have to be very careful how we go down that path.”