Hoteliers want impact study

ROSEAU, Dominica, Sept 6, CMC – The Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association (DHTA) is calling for a study to determine the impact the “crisis” with the regional airline, LIAT, is having on the economies of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

DHTA has written to Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, whose administration became the latest shareholder of the cash-strapped Antigua-based airline, indicating that it is concerned at the “large number of flight cancellations, delays and re-routing of flights”.

LIAT, which services more than 20 destinations in the region, has come under severe criticism from the travelling public. But the airline says it is in the process of implementing a multi-million dollar upgrade of its aging fleet and has urged the public to bear with it.

In the letter to Prime Minister Skerrit, the hoteliers said that the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the Economics Division of the OECS Secretariat should be commissioned to research and publish the impact of the LIAT crisis on the ECCU economies.

“Judging from local experience, we are sure that the negative impact of the resulting shock is very significant,” it said.

Courtesy: www.Cananewsonline.com