Individuals wishing to travel using the Roseau Ferry Terminal and the Port Office at Longhouse in Portsmouth will be expected to spend more for a “passenger facility charge”.
According to the Dominica Air and Sea Port Authority -DASPA (Security and Passenger Facility Charges) Regulations of 2014, every passenger, except cruise ship passengers, entering Dominica from any seaport or airport shall pay to the authority a passenger facility charge of US $10.
The Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association shared the concern that this increase will impact the cost of travel to Dominica and therefore have potentially negative impacts on visitor arrival
The President of the DHTA , Mrs Marvlyn Alexander James released a statement on the concern.
“Our recovery is fragile and we must do everything we can to protect the competitiveness of our sector,” she stated, “and such an increase will have an impact, particularly as other destinations serviced by the Ferry do not impose taxes at such a high level”.
Further commenting on the affordability of access to Dominica, DHTA’s President added, “We are already challenged by the disproportionally high taxes of our regional airlines, at times representing up to 50% of the cost of an airline ticket.”
