The following article highlights the way in which the huge foreign monopoly tour operators dominate the tourism sector in the Caribbean and how they use this dominance to plunder the economies of the Caribbean through both legal and not so legal means.
Will the traditional model of largely being a tour operator dependent tourism destination dramatically change – as we know it – after the end of the Coronavirus crisis?
What prompted these thoughts were the widespread reporting of the huge amounts of monies still owed to our hotel and lodging sector, despite the guests having already been hosted and returned to their homes.
Simply put, the respective tour operators have been paid in full by the guests/clients, almost always, many months prior to arrival ‘to be held in trust for payment to hotels shortly after the delivery of the service’. But in thousands of cases the hotel or villa has yet to be recompensed.
All associated costs, with those guests stay, have of course been spent or committed to ensure there was in fact accommodation ready on arrival and was maintained during their stay. The outstanding exception perhaps, could be the VAT (Valued Added Tax) and room levies, which may be still owed to Government….
Continue reading at:
https://barbadosunderground.net/2020/05/18/adrian-loveridge-column-dishonest-tour-operators/
Caribbean Empowerment Blog 