[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 117 (Wednesday, July 16, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE CARIBBEAN SOLUTION FOR AIRLINE CHALLENGES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 16, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the efforts 
being made by the Caribbean Tourism Organization, CTO, and the 
Caribbean Hotel Association, CHA, to increase Caribbean revenue through 
the tourism sector.
  Increasing airline cutbacks have posed a great challenge to many 
nations; however the Caribbean has seen an opportunity through this 
challenge. Through the CTO and CHA, Caribbean nations have decided to 
pool their resources. Many Caribbean destinations are reached with a 
connection in Puerto Rico, hence an increase in flights to Puerto Rico 
would mean increased access to the Caribbean.
  I would like to recognize all who are involved in this transition for 
heightened cooperation and coordination within the Caribbean community. 
These efforts not only contribute to the unification of the Caribbean, 
but will build up the economies of the region as a whole.

                   [From the CaribNews, July 8, 2008]

Airline Challenges Lead to What Could Become Unprecedented Cooperation 
                      Among Caribbean Governments

       The current economic difficulties facing the airline 
     industry worldwide have provided numerous challenges to the 
     destinations they serve, but have led to at least one 
     positive in the Caribbean region: what could become an 
     unprecedented level of cooperation and coordination among 
     Caribbean governments. The airline challenges have caused 
     many to recognize that they can deliver far more benefits to 
     their citizens by cooperating with other governments than by 
     acting alone.
       This coordination level accelerated recently when the 
     Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the 
     President of the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) had the 
     foresight to call an emergency meeting in Antigua for 
     Ministers and Commissioners responsible for Tourism, 
     Ministers and Commissioners responsible for Aviation, and 
     members of the tourism private sector to find ways to 
     minimize the impact on their economies brought on by rapid 
     increases in airline fuel prices. It soon became clear to 
     every participant at that meeting that by cooperating on the 
     establishment of hubs, on the promotion of the region, on 
     providing revenue guarantees to airlines and on coordinating 
     the establishment of more efficient intra-regional carriers, 
     all Caribbean countries would suffer less than if each 
     country attempted to address the crisis on its own.
       The case of Caribbean hubs, and in particular the case of 
     the Puerto Rico hub, was most instructive. The Government of 
     Puerto Rico has come to recognize that by increasing the 
     number of flights and seats connecting through Puerto Rico, 
     they increase the number of flights, seats and flexibility of 
     passengers traveling to Puerto Rico. This point was made most 
     forcefully in a recent meeting in San Juan and many of the 
     governments to the south of San Juan are relying heavily on 
     decisions being made in Puerto Rico for their continued 
     survival.
       All governments also understand that with the current 
     structure of the airline industry, it is indispensably 
     necessary to ensure that the flights coming into Puerto Rico 
     can connect easily to the onward carriers such that travelers 
     traveling beyond the hub can connect online or through their 
     travel agent seamlessly. Without those connections many of 
     the southern destinations are invisible in electronic booking 
     systems. It is this interdependence that is forcing 
     discussions between governments at an unprecedented level and 
     at an unprecedented rate.
       The same level of cooperation is beginning in the areas of 
     marketing and in providing airline guarantees. In the past 
     few years, an increasing proportion of the funds voted to 
     departments of tourism across the world are being forced into 
     escrow to cover airline guarantees. That leaves far less 
     available for the promotion. This situation has compelled 
     Caribbean governments to aggregate their promotional budgets 
     for greater promotional efficiency and to devise financial 
     arrangement that reduce the cost of these arrangements which 
     also serve to minimize the risk.
       ``There is a silver lining on every cloud,'' according to 
     Allen Chastanet, Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism 
     Organization (CTO). ``We believe that this high level of 
     cooperation is being driven by the Governments, the private 
     sector and the people of each territory recognizing that we 
     in the Caribbean are more interdependent than independent,'' 
     he emphasized. ``Governments now realize that if they do not 
     cooperate to maximize benefits or minimize risk to their 
     countries, they will be called to account by their people 
     asking why they refused to cooperate.''
       Peter Odle, the President of the Caribbean Hotel 
     Association (CHA) also commented on this suddenly elevated 
     level of cooperation. Odle noted that, ``Even though the 
     cooperation between CTO and CHA has grown over the past 
     several years, I see increased cooperation on this issue even 
     at the destination level where members of the private sector 
     are ensuring that their governments are engaged in these 
     cooperative ventures. I promise you, the private sector gets 
     it. We will achieve much more in addressing this crisis 
     through intra-regional cooperation than we can ever achieve 
     by going alone. I will tell you that those governments that 
     do not cooperate will be seen as pariahs by both their own 
     people as well as by other governments in the region.''
       At the meeting in Antigua, four task forces were 
     established, headed by Ministers to examine the four critical 
     issues. These committees will report to the CTO and CHA Board 
     meetings which will be held prior to the inaugural Annual 
     Caribbean Tourism Summit (ACTS) in Washington, D.C. The 
     results of these committees will also be presented to the 
     Caricom Heads at their meeting in Antigua on July 2nd.
       Governments have also come to recognize that they need to 
     cooperate in speaking together with one voice to the 
     government of the United States on a number of critical 
     issues and they propose to take advantage of their presence 
     in Washington to begin those discussions. Thus it appears 
     that this unprecedented spirit of cooperation will continue 
     even beyond the current situation.

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