Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
CARIBBEAN HOTEL officials are organising as a lobby to delay changes in U.S. travel regulations that mandates U.S. citizens to use a passport when travelling in the Western Hemisphere from January 1, 2006 to January 1, 2008.
Last month's announcement comes into force on January 1, 2006, a notice period which the Caribbean tourism industry said is inadequate and unfair when Canada and Mexico have until January 1, 2008.
Of the one million US visitors to Jamaica in 2004, more than 50 per cent travelled without a passport, Paul Pennicook, Director of Tourism told The Gleaner last month. These Americans, local tourism officials feel, will find themselves unable to travel with their current documentation. Currently only 25 per cent of Americans have a passport.
The tourism industry contributed US$1.437 billion to the local economy last year.
UP FOR DISCUSSION
The Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) will be meeting in Miami on June 26 where they will discuss the matter, as part of the Caribbean Hotel Industry Conference (CHIC), June 26-29. A five-member delegation of hoteliers will be led by Godfrey Dyer, President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association.
"The Caribbean Hotel Association executive called me with their concerns and we have now started discussions. We are asking the Caribbean industry as a whole to join, so we can make a loud noise," Mr. Dyer said.
SHORT NOTICE
"This is going to have an immediate effect," Mr. Penni-cook had said of the new regulations. "Many Americans come here at extremely short notice seeing how near and relatively easy it is to travel without a passport."
"All we are saying," insisted Mr. Dyer, "is put us on a level playing field. The USA and Canada have an extra two years so just give us the same time."
The Caribbean will lose tourist trade to Mexico argued Mr. Dyer. "You will find that Mexico becomes an alternative. Americans can always drive there but the Caribbean is by boat or sea. A lot of jobs are going to be lost and a lot of companies will be bankrupt. This is the most significant change in tourism I have seen in my 35 years in the industry," he said.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, ruled that US citizens and Caribbean, Bermudan, Central and South American nationals will need a passport when entering the US. Currently, US citizens and those from some Western Hemisphere countries are allowed to use alternative documents such as drivers licenses and birth certificates to re-enter and enter the country.
