IT'S
OFFICIAL NOW. The Dept. of Homeland Security has set Jan.
23 as the new starting date for a regulation requiring airline
passengers entering the U.S. by air within the Western Hemisphere
to possess a valid passport. The new date for the regulation,
referred to as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, was the
result of a delay in the rulemaking process that pushed back the
original Jan. 8 start date by two weeks. However, the passport
requirement does not apply to U.S. citizens visiting Puerto Rico
and/or the U.S. Virgin Islands as they are U.S. territories. For
cruise and land passengers, the passport requirement takes effect
in June 2009, although that date could be moved up to as early as
January 2008.
THE
PASSPORT RULE for air passengers has raised the ire of the
Caribbean tourism industry, which fears island destinations will
lose business as travelers without passports decide to go
elsewhere. According to the Caribbean Tourism Organization
officials, the two-week delay in implementation "will only create
further confusion in the marketplace among both consumers and
airlines, which have to police this measure. This helps no one."
The Caribbean Hotel Association was just as blunt in its assessment
of the date change. "The new date does not make any difference as
it relates to the increased potential economic damage to land-based
tourism due to the exemption given cruise lines," the CHA said. The
position of the hotel association "continues to be for the equal
application of the law to all sectors and countries."
LODGEPODGE
" It's not a
question of naughty or nice when it comes to a Sandals' holiday
gift bag this year. The hotel chain has its finger on the
hard-to-find, high-ticket items this season and is hoping to fill
some of its high-producing agents' wish lists. The more five-night
Sandals or Beaches vacations an agent books with Unique Vacations
through Dec. 22 in any room category for travel from Jan. 1 to Dec.
21, 2007, the more gifts the agent can snag. Gifts up for grabs are
an XBox 360 game console or an Apple iPod MP3 player with 80GB hard
drive, valid with four bookings; Fisher Price's Elmo TMX doll,
valid with three bookings; and an Insignia widescreen LCD-screen
portable DVD player or Canon PowerShot A540 6.0 megapixel digital
camera, valid with two bookings. For details, visit www.sandals.com.
" Mandarin Oriental
Dellis Cay, a private island retreat near Providenciales, Turks and
Caicos, is scheduled to open in late 2009. The hideaway, which will
feature 25 suites, 17 villas and 78 multi-roomed apartments, will
mark the luxury hotel group's second Caribbean entry. The 114-room
Mandarin Oriental, Grand Cayman will open in 2008 on Barefoot Beach
on the island's east end. For details, visit www.mandarinoriental.com.
TAKEOFFS
" Spirit Airlines
will resume service to the Turks and Caicos from Fort Lauderdale on
Dec. 8 with special holiday flights to Providenciales and Grand
Turk on Dec. 8, 11 and 17. Regular Saturday service will begin Dec.
23; on Feb. 14, service to Grand Turk will switch to Wednesdays
while the Provo flight will remain on Saturdays. The carrier had
pulled out of the Turks and Caicos on Sept. 3 after eight months of
service, when it previously had offered a daily flight to Provo and
twice-weekly service to Grand Turk.
" JetBlue added a
second nonstop flight between New York (Kennedy) and Aruba on Dec.
2. The new Saturday service complements the existing daily
roundtrip flight that began in September. In addition, a second
daily flight will be added for the holiday season from Dec. 21
through Jan. 7.
Caribbean
Editor:
Gay Nagle
Myers
Phone: (201) 902-1924
[email protected]
For promotional
opportunities in the E-letters, contact [email protected].