ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority (ABTA) has welcomed the decision to implement new paperless ED card system at the VC Bird International Airport with the authorities indicating that this will help with the collection of revenues that often go uncollected.
VC Bird International Airport (File Photo)“This has been something that has been on the radar for some time as we realise just how important it is for tourism to allow ease of entry/exit as invariably one of the most challenging things about coming to Antigua and Barbuda is the amount of time that is spent in the long lines at the airport on arrival or at departure; this system will fix that.
“Apart from the visitor experience of a seamless entry and departure, we want to ensure that we capture all of the taxes that our visitors pay as separate and apart from the government’s share, our (tourism’s) share goes to marketing the destination,” said Tourism Minister, Charles Fernandez at the unveiling of the paperless entry and departure immigration and customs system which had been in a ‘testing’ phase for the last several months.
“We have seen increases where last year was a record year in terms of arrivals, but we want to see that translate into record tax collection. These taxes are not on the properties but are on the guests. Everywhere now is taxing visitors so there is nothing new or onerous. That is important for us and we are working with the ministry of finance to see how we can collaborate to get every penny to ensure that we can properly market the destination,” Fernandez added.
ABTA chief executive officer, Colin C. James said that his organisation uses ‘every penny’ it gets in marketing the destination so the more people who come to the country, the authority expects to see higher collections.
“All those villas that are selling their rooms for US$10,000.00 per night and don’t pay their taxes, we will now know who is staying there and you will be forced to remit the taxes so that the people of Antigua and Barbuda can benefit from the taxes that you collect and maybe not pay in,” he said.
James said the system provides very detailed information on visitors and that this will also help in fine-tuning marketing efforts in the future.
“When you have an efficient system at arrival at an international airport, it sets a first impression; and as we know, first impressions are long-lasting. Therefore, being able to move passengers through the airport adds to customer satisfaction; thy are happier, they enjoy the destination and most importantly, they tell people about it,” he said.
The hotel executive said that the new ArriveAntigua.com system utilises Artificial Intelligence (AI) to gather information about passengers, including their home addresses in the United States and elsewhere “and that this information is now readily available rather than technicians in the ministry of tourism having to wait until the end of the month to get this vital information,” he stated.
