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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>US drops tourism bombshell</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Passport decision akin to a 'category 6 hurricane' - Butch Stewart sees Venezuelan connection</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
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<P class=StoryText align=justify>GORDON 'Butch' Stewart, the Caribbean's leading hotelier last night suggested that support by Jamaica and other regional countries for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was behind a United States decision that has sent shock waves through the region's tourist industry.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=120 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Stewart. that decision is probably the single most destructive economic catastrophe that could happen, short of a nuclear attack on Caribbean countries </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Almost in unison, the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourist Organisation (CTO) and the Puerto Rico-based Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) said the region would reel from the US Congress vote Monday to amend the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative in favour of Mexico, Canada and cruise shipping companies, over airline passengers going to the Caribbean.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The CTO described the American vote as akin to "a category 6 hurricane" for the region, while the CHA warned affected countries to brace for "a genuine economic and social upheaval, caused by the inevitable shift in travel by US citizens".<P class=StoryText align=justify>The US government amendment delays the implementation of the new passport requirements until June 1, 2009 for land crossings at the Mexican and Canadian borders and for cruise passengers coming to the US from the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada or Bermuda, but still requires all US citizens travelling by air to these regions to have a passport by January 8, 2007.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It came as part of the Homeland Security Department's requirement that all US citizens returning to the United States have passports, with the deadline for enforcement being January 8, 2007.
But regional tourism interests fear there will be a sting in the tail, specifically a huge drop in American visitors who can't bother to get passports to travel by air and would find it much less hassling to take a cruise vacation.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"That decision is probably the single most destructive economic catastrophe that could happen, short of a nuclear attack on Caribbean countries," Stewart said from Antigua and Barbuda, adding that the job losses would be horrendous.<P class=StoryText align=justify>He said the US was sending a powerful signal to the Caribbean and if regional leaders did not come together to find constructive solutions, it would be to the certain detriment of the tourist industry.
Stewart said it appeared that the region's flirtation with Venezuela's Chavez had triggered the US decision, referring to Chavez' description of President George W Bush as "the devil" in his recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The hotel magnate said Americans, including Democrats and minorities, had been "revolted and offended" by the description of their president, based on talk show polls taken the morning after.
"If I were a betting man, it would seem quite reasonable for me to put my money on the fact that the Caribbean's flirtation with President Chavez, after his assault on President Bush, is probably the single biggest reason for this policy decision. There is simply no other logical reason why something this devastating and draconian could be inflicted on the region," Stewart argued.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Stewart's hotel chain, with 14 San
<SPAN class=Subheadline>Passport decision akin to a 'category 6 hurricane' - Butch Stewart sees Venezuelan connection</SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>GORDON 'Butch' Stewart, the Caribbean's leading hotelier last night suggested that support by Jamaica and other regional countries for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was behind a United States decision that has sent shock waves through the region's tourist industry.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=120 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Stewart. that decision is probably the single most destructive economic catastrophe that could happen, short of a nuclear attack on Caribbean countries </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Almost in unison, the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourist Organisation (CTO) and the Puerto Rico-based Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) said the region would reel from the US Congress vote Monday to amend the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative in favour of Mexico, Canada and cruise shipping companies, over airline passengers going to the Caribbean.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The CTO described the American vote as akin to "a category 6 hurricane" for the region, while the CHA warned affected countries to brace for "a genuine economic and social upheaval, caused by the inevitable shift in travel by US citizens".<P class=StoryText align=justify>The US government amendment delays the implementation of the new passport requirements until June 1, 2009 for land crossings at the Mexican and Canadian borders and for cruise passengers coming to the US from the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada or Bermuda, but still requires all US citizens travelling by air to these regions to have a passport by January 8, 2007.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It came as part of the Homeland Security Department's requirement that all US citizens returning to the United States have passports, with the deadline for enforcement being January 8, 2007.But regional tourism interests fear there will be a sting in the tail, specifically a huge drop in American visitors who can't bother to get passports to travel by air and would find it much less hassling to take a cruise vacation.<P class=StoryText align=justify>"That decision is probably the single most destructive economic catastrophe that could happen, short of a nuclear attack on Caribbean countries," Stewart said from Antigua and Barbuda, adding that the job losses would be horrendous.<P class=StoryText align=justify>He said the US was sending a powerful signal to the Caribbean and if regional leaders did not come together to find constructive solutions, it would be to the certain detriment of the tourist industry.
Stewart said it appeared that the region's flirtation with Venezuela's Chavez had triggered the US decision, referring to Chavez' description of President George W Bush as "the devil" in his recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The hotel magnate said Americans, including Democrats and minorities, had been "revolted and offended" by the description of their president, based on talk show polls taken the morning after.
"If I were a betting man, it would seem quite reasonable for me to put my money on the fact that the Caribbean's flirtation with President Chavez, after his assault on President Bush, is probably the single biggest reason for this policy decision. There is simply no other logical reason why something this devastating and draconian could be inflicted on the region," Stewart argued.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Stewart's hotel chain, with 14 San
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Assamba. it is incomprehensible that the US government would approve an amendment </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Cruise ship passengers will be able to travel to the Caribbean without a passport until June 2009, unlike stopover visitors who must meet the passport requirement by January 8, 2007.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In a statement issued yesterday, Assamba noted that "whereas the deadline shift from January 8, 2007 to June 1, 2009 is welcome news in that it gives us time to extend our public education programme among potential American cruise ship visitors, the disparity created with land-based visitors will have a crippling effect on the local tourist industry".<P class=StoryText align=justify>She approved the statement made by secretary-general of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Vincent Vanderpool Wallace that "...it is incomprehensible that the US government would approve an amendment that excludes air arrivals from the Caribbean and therefore grant an additional advantage to cruise lines in the Caribbean, which already enjoy a significant competitive advantage, especially since the cruise lines also supported the inclusion of air arrivals".<P class=StoryText align=justify>Stopover visitors to the Caribbean, she pointed out, represented more than half of the number of tourists, and significantly more revenue to tourism-dependent economies.
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