Starting July 1, 2023, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has said that fees for traveling within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will go down for six months.
By cutting the travel tax from $37.50 to $20, the government will lose $2.2 million in income.
Mottley said that the short-term plan would run until December 15: “It’s supposed to be a specific tax cut to help travel get back to where it was before.”
She said, “Notice will be given to IATA [International Air Transport Association] to make sure we are in line with having this happen on July 1,” said Mottley.
Mottley said during her 2023 Budget presentation on Tuesday that her government will give $5 million to the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc (BTMI) for an advertising campaign to boost summer business in the region. This is to try to avoid a repeat of last year’s disappointing summer tourism season.
She also said that Barbados had been able to convince its major airline partners to add more seats for the summer.
Mottley said, “We plan to strategically target the slow summer period as a growth area this year.” He said this because last summer was “not the best” for tourists coming to this island.
Mottley also said, “While other places will have less air service this summer, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will keep flying to Barbados every day from London. “In the same way, other airlines have put on special marketing campaigns for Europe that take advantage of the connections from Heathrow,” she said.
