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Cayman wants FCCA to lobby US on passports
Monday, July 10, 2006
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Hon. Charles Clifford
Tourism Minister |
Berthia Parle
Outgoing President of the
Caribbean Hotel
Association, |
The Cayman Islands Government says it is examining ways to facilitate United States (US) citizens who want to visit the Island after 31 December 2006 but do not have a passport.
Effective 1 January 2007, US citizens and other nationals entering the United States must have a passport or a specific travel document to gain entry, according to the US Government.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) will require all travellers, including US citizens, to and from the Americas, the Caribbean and Bermuda to have a passport.
Cayman depends on the United States for 40.5 percent of its guests and is only second to Jamaica (58.4 percent) in Caribbean countries hosting American tourists.
The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the regional tourism umbrella body, said it is considering an option of reimbursing new US passport holders if other strategies failed.
According to the CTO, the plan would be to reimburse first-time US passport holders who use the new document for the first time in the region.
Initially, the Caribbean was pushing totally for a further extension to the 31 December 2006 deadline, one year after the US relented on a previous cut off point.
Cayman's Tourism Minister, Hon. Charles Clifford, said the Island is teaming up with its Caribbean neighbours to find a workable solution ahead of the WHTI start up date.
"The Cayman Islands joins the region in considering viable options to ensure that the flow of US visitors continues unimpeded in the years ahead," he said.
"The Cayman Islands is assessing the process by which we might facilitate US citizens obtaining passports for travel here."
He added that local Tourism Ministry officials would travel to the US capital, Washington, DC, with other travel partners later this month to pursue "diplomatic channels" for addressing the matter.
"Secondly, we will also continue to encourage US travellers to obtain passports in consideration of future travel," Mr Clifford added.
He said the Island is committed to "exploring all options" in order to see the destination remain competitive within "our key source market for visitor arrivals".
Other influential partners like the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association are being tapped to lobby the US Government for a level playing field in terms of the proposed implementation timetable, he said.
Outgoing President of the Caribbean Hotel Association, Berthia Parle, said her organisation submitted a position paper to the Department Homeland Security on the negative impact the new passport rule would have on the region.
Provision is made in the WHTI for other accepted document that "establishes the bearer's identity and nationality to enter or re-enter the United States".
According to the US Government: "The goal is to strengthen border security and facilitate entry into the United States for US citizens and legitimate foreign visitors."
The travel document initiative will affect all United States citizens travelling within the Western Hemisphere, who will now be required to carry a passport or other accepted document.
It will also affect certain foreign nationals who currently are not required to present a passport to travel to the United States namely most Canadian citizens, citizens of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda and Mexican citizens.
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