THE WORLD Travel & Tourism Council condemned last week the US government’s proposal to raise US$25 billion over 10 years through changes to the country’s Aviation Passenger Security (APS) fee.
APS is currently levied on airline passengers in the US at between US$2.50 and US$5 per trip. Under the proposals, the current range will be replaced with a statutory minimum fee of US$5, with annual incremental increases of 50 cents from 2013 to 2017, to reach US$7.50 in 2017.
Of the US$25 billion additional revenue raised over 10 years, at least US$15 billion is to be used for general taxation purposes, rather than for passenger security.
David Scowsill, WTTC president & CEO, said: “Travel & tourism currently contributes more than US$1.3 trillion or nine per cent of total US GDP, generates nine per cent of its total exports and supports 15 million jobs. Taxes on the sector tend to do more harm than good economically – as higher charges discourage high-spending visitors.”
He added: “We fully support the US administration’s efforts to reduce its debt burden, but do not believe it is good economics to raid US$25 billion from an industry that is a driver of growth and recovery.”
