The tourism industry is in dire need of assistance, according to one of the leading organisations in that sector.
The Dominica Hotels and Tourism Association (DHTA) says it is very concerned that “we have become uncompetitive”.
It blames the government’s imposition of a 15 per cent value added tax (VAT) “resulting in higher prices of our tourism products and services”.
“Compounded with the reduction in cruise calls and the limited and costly access, the tourism industry is in dire need of assistance,” the DHTA said in a just released statement.
The association says according to a post 2006 USAID-funded report on Impact of VAT and High Energy cost on the Tourism Industry in Dominica, “Action is needed to reduce the impact of VAT and High Energy cost on Dominica’s tourism industry”.
According to the association, the industry is integral to the growth of Dominica’s economy.
It argues that “the enabling environment should be conducive to making business competitive and profitable, so that their economic contributions can be sustainable”.
The DHTA says tourism has the capacity to create more jobs than any other sector, and warns that its critical function as the “engine of growth” for the economy must not be underestimated.
On the question of high energy costs the tourism organization describes Dominica as having “one of the highest base rates for electricity in the OECS”.
“Even with hydro accounting for approximately 40 per cent of the total electricity generated, we have seen regular increases in the price of electricity, with the cost for hotels showing an increase of 50-70 per cent in a post 2006 two year period, the group says.
The DHTA’s key recommendation is for the government to make an all out effort to increase the effectiveness of the tourism sector and make the industry more competitive.
It says such a move would “result in the tangible added value to Dominica’s economic and social well-being”.
Where are the singers?? Those who were singing in 2009 “We going all de way with de Labour Partay!”??? Let’s sing!! Even when we hungry and cannot even afford to buy a Palmolive soap, or a half pound saltfish, or cannot even afford the “Pay As You Go” electricity, lets sing “We going all de way with de Labour Partay!”
I pray for Dominica…
I worry about my family back home! OMG!!!!!! This does not invite investors or Dominicans to return home.
I think the tourist should be paying the higher VAT. When compared with other tourist destinations, Dominica is no more expensive. Of course there is a recession and it is effecting tourism to a certain extent but the problem runs deeper. To solve this problem we must put ourselves in the tourists shoes. Imagine landing at the waterfront. Disembarking to the beggars that do not take no for an answer then trying to make your way to a bus (multiple choices and everyone calling you) only to ride on roads that leave you shaken and tired by the end of the day. Not my idea of a good time!
in truth the 15 percent vat compounded when calculating duty is really 18 plus percent..
the government is milking the poor to build villas and 5 million dollars house even in cork stree they just building mansions…
it will stop one day
NONSENSE!!!
nothing in dominica will work for the best of dominica,why cause dominicans put politics and politicians infront of the best interest of the country,we are a democracy ,we are an intelligent,we are hard working,but we lacking integrity and morals ,the hole Caribbean has left us behind ,why we are not united if its not my idea it will not work or just cant work ,we use to help each and look for nothing in return we change this love for people and country and have replace it with begging that’s not who we were.we must now put this country back to order it has lost its way ,please please save dominica and am calling on dominica not party this country is going to fall of a cliff help help her
The tourism industry needs to end its reliance on domlec for electricity and move to renewable energy. the technical expertise and equipment are available online an though costly initially is a very good long term investment.
right there they would eliminate the vat paid on electricity every month.
the govt too should provide more incentives to encourage persons and companies to go into renewable energy generation
VAT and DOMLEC are killing Dominica. Can’t you see? e.g. Buy a vehicle from Japan for $2,000 US and import it into Dominica. Take a guess on how much you would pay at customs. Are you ready? $20,376.75 EC. Thats not all. You have to pay the government again. Port charges $200.00, Registration charge $100,00 and License fee almost $600.00. Then for every gallon of gass you buy after that the government gets $8.63. Magwesa. Unbelievable. For a 2000 dollar vehicle.
i have over again we cant be monoculture everything is tourism which very fragile one dont make same mistake as bananas one negative incident can kill a tourism industry are we not seeing we need investment in agriculture manufacturing alongside tourism all need to be implement if we really to see Dominica develop where are so called technical people in finance what are they not applied what they learnt the technical in finance make me sick as fellow finance student doing my chartered i totally disappointed in those people especially the FS come on
Close to forty , have worked for 20 years , but that’s the hardest I have seen and been though in Dominica ,and the sad thing is I am a working professional( having sacrifice to further my knowledge and skills).When reality hits sometimes and cant buy toothpaste , I just ask God to help the less privilege or the common man on the streets. they must be really out of touch with the common man ,even to entertain increasing TAX.
Man I agree with you 100% … I wonder how people survive in this place! I feel the pain of those who get paid $500 – 700 per fortnight cuz my salary way more than that and by the 5th of the month i dead broke !!1
Vat reduction will change nothing. The world is in a recession, not many people can afford to take a 3 plane connection vacation…
Now the tram close down and it’s clear that tourism has taken a head dive now all you talking about VAT? Too late shall be the cry in this country.
Bla bla bla bla. If there is an increase in VAT all we will continue to do is Bla Bla Bla Bla for a few days and pay the VAT for the rest of our lives. All we do in this country is make silent noise. Our noise is senseless and fall on deaf ears. We are just a hopeless people Bla Bla Bla ing our mouths.
It’s commendable that the VAT should be reduced, but not for the benefit of tourists only. We pay VAT every day and the tourists will only pay while they are in DA, so let’s be objective here and put our people first.
The DHTA needs to get real. VAT is an important revenue generating mechanism for this country. The DHTA and tourism sectors need to look at themselves. Perhaps it is they who are not attractive enough or doing enough to generate more interest in tourism here. It’s just too easy for them to pick on VAT. Too many eople still don’t know the difference between Dominica and the Dominican Republic, and it’s way to difficult and expensive to get here. This has nothing at all to do with VAT!!
Do think you have a point my suggesting more could be done by the DHTA,but one can argue that with high VAT,the necessary promotion and Marketing is just not possibly.
If they reduce the VAT, where will they get money for the Red Clinic? The Red Clinic is more inportant than anything in Dominica. Between Domlec and the Government we pay almost 86% of what we earn. Only about 14% actually goes towards adding value to our lives.
ha
only some erchants are charged tax.i visited dominica in february and went in the grand baazar not even knowing that it was no longer there ,only to be served by chinesse who use calculators instead of the register…tell me how are they being ordited
15% VAT plus the 500% profit our merchants want to make on one item will definitely result in slow to no economic growth. the government needs the VAT but it should be reduced to 7.5% and vendors when you buy something for 10 us dollars how can you justify selling it for 100EC dollars huh?
We need VAT to be reduced to at least 10% for all sectors, so that there will be some tangible growth in the economy. Mr. Prime Minster we are awaiting a reduction of VAT in the up coming budget and NOT an increase. We are waiting….. remember election is around the corner, please take note.
after he take all you money and squander it on all kinds of nonsense …….. the increase is coming ……because he needs more to spend………welcome to the next level
is our tourism industry competing on price alone? Other ountries have VAT too and when I see that our premier hotel is able to offer rooms at U.S.$85/night one must ask whether is is only a question of costs that prevents us from attrracting a larger number of visitors. Are we really as attractive as we proclaim to be? And then again, attractive to tourists of the deep-pocket variety or low-spenders? How come cruise ship arrivals for the coming season are down to fewer than 100 when our sister island St. Lucia looks forward to welcoming more than double that number? It is not only the number of ships but also the “quality”. Those in the industry are very aware that certain ships are far more free-spending than others and when one looks at the list of planned arrivals I venture to state that we are getting more than our fair share of the package tour “pile-them high, sell them-them cheap” variety.
Our energy costs are outrageous but the large operators are also cognisant of the fact that there is no VAT applicable to the electricity they produce when using their own generators. We certainly could do better here and it is up to Govt. to reduce the price of diesel fuel to Domlec, rather than rack up considerable profits, which are supposedly used for social purposes rather than direct job creation. That too is an argument the tourism industry should not be afraid to engage in. I’m afraid that reducing the VAT rate applicable to the tourism industry will give the Govt. an excuse to increase the general rate for the ordinary Dominican.
The causes of our dismal performance go beyond VAT and energy costs.
We often hear of organizations requiring Government’s assistance, what one never hears or little about are these organizations own commitments. What are they doing to make things happen, what are their strategies? Life is about partnerships and so the DHTA which continually complains, should take a workable plan to the Ministry of Tourism which would have a most important component for every Dominican to take ownership of Tourism.
I have traveled extensively and real tourism, care less about price, what they care about is quality of service. So the idea of VAT being a problem is not convincing. What is clear to me is the shabby service we provide to our own people and visitors.
The key to tourism development is quality service, products and respect to internal and external tourist.
“The DHTA’s key recommendation is for the government to make an all out effort to increase the effectiveness of the tourism sector and make the industry more competitive.”
I’m disappointed that key recommendation is so vague and unclear. At this point, the organization needed to recommend, for example, a reduction in the VAT applied to businesses in the tourism sector, or tax breaks for businesses who meet certain requirements (energy usage, etc.). I’m hoping that the DHTA has an actual plan in the works, as opposed to what appears to be 100% reliance on government innovation or ingenuity.
Only now you people talking. That should have been done from the get go. It is time that you people starting lobbying the govt for business consessions.
some people and some dominicans may think it easy but that 15% vat is a headache and when tourist come here and have to pay all that… its a killer!! i work for a rental company.. lets say a rental jeep is 40us a day.. when you add 15% to dat it comes to 46us a day… we all have to pay taxes i agree but here in dominica is not all man that is wealthy…paying 15% vat makes everything difficult its a fact!!
I don’t think the Government can be blamed for lack of tourism!! Dominica is a very difficult island to access, it is costly for tourists to get to the island! Also we are in the worlds worst recession with the Euro in dire straights. People do not have the money to go on holiday like they have before! Considering that Dominica has the natural resource of it’s rich land I would honestly say that the Government should put their efforts in encouraging Dominicans back onto the land and get farming up and running again. Domlec is known for overcharging for everything and yes I agree with the cost of fuel having gone down so should our electricity bills!!