Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Tourism Henry Charles Fernandez has a simple message for Caribbean governments.

He wants regional leaders to be as committed to regional interconnectivity as they are willing to pay international airlines to fly to their countries, often times “half empty.”

“And so, we need to convince our leaders and by extension our people who put our leaders and ourselves there, the importance of this regional connectivity,” he said.

Fernandez’s comment comes amidst the ongoing debate in the Caribbean about the taxes that regional governments impose on the aviation sector and visitor arrivals.

[caption id="attachment_976122" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Tourists walk along a beach in Negril, Jamaica.[/caption]

He was participating in a panel on Multi-Destination Tourism as part of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Business Meetings and Caribbean Aviation Day conference held in Georgetown, Cayman Islands last week. It was jointly organised by the Barbados-based CTO, the Cayman Islands Government and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Fernandez, who also has ministerial responsibilities for economic development, said it is unacceptable for Caribbean governments to pay a US carrier to fly to their countries, “quite often half empty, but then say I have nothing to put into a regional carrier…

“There has to be a commitment that we must do it. We have to do it,” he said, noting “everything costs money, but we need to look further down as to what happens as people travel through the islands. Because when you travel to an island in the Caribbean, you’re really travelling to the Caribbean, and we have so much to offer, so many different experiences to share. And why are we holding back on that?”

He said that in addition to commitment, taxes are often cited as an issue affecting regional connectivity.

“I think it’s important to note that a lot of the airports, the taxes are hypothecated to pay back for that. So, you have everybody’s cramming to put a new airport and to put a new cruise port and so on. And to get the money you have to sign off your taxes.”

But he said despite that situation, the region must be willing to consider whether reduced taxes would translate to higher visitor arrivals, which would mean even more money from visitor spend.

[caption id="attachment_976125" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Caves in sedimentary rocks created by the Atlantic Ocean at North Point, Barbados. Phot by Pat Ganase[/caption]

Economist Marla Dukharan, who also participated in the panel discussion, said government ministers were better positioned to speak on whether their countries can afford to reduce the aviation taxes and if so, by what percentage.

She, however, said there are already “pockets,” such as the ABC Islands – Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao – as well as Dominica, Martinique and Guadeloupe, that have multi-destination tourism.

“You have this happening and perhaps that might be the answer – little pockets as opposed to one big pocket… It’s really abo