US PASSPORTS REQUIREMENTS & BVI --

VISION AND COURAGE

I have been following the newspapers reports about the Passport requirements for United States Citizens returning to the United States where they are required to show their Passports at the Port of Entry.

In some Caribbean countries there is a fear that this requirement might result in a decrease in visitors from the United States, and as Tania Mannes reports in the Daily News of the 6 July, the issue is of great economic importance to the region, because nearly 80 percent of U.S. travelers which make up most of the Caribbean tourists - do not have a passport, according to an estimate from "Travel Agents", a trade publication.

In the same issue of the Daily News, there is a report by Angela Burns-Piper  in which is stated that the Development Planning Unit agreed that the U.S. Market comprises 64.3 percent of visitors  to the Territory, but reports that the number already using U.S. passports to enter is much higher than the W.T.T.C study suggests. The W.T.T.C. study suggested that the BVI gets 64.3 percent of its visitors from the U.S. Market and 50 percent of them do not use passports. The study concluded that the Territory stands to lose $102 million dollars and 1,863 travel and tourism jobs as a result of this new passport regulation (W.T.T.C is the abbreviation for World Travel and Tourism Council).

When I was given the portfolio for Social Services in December 1979, this included Immigration. One of the concerns expressed to me when I had the first meeting with the Chief Immigration Officer, Mr. Edmund MAduro, was the need for all visitors to the Territory to have Passports. The main purpose he said, was for security reason. The matter was considered by Executive Council and Council agreed that it was necessary that visitors should produce their passports at the Port of Entry. But we were cognizant of the fact that U.S. Citizens were allowed entry into the Territory by producing a birth certificate or a drivers licence. Of course we had to give the travel trade time to make the necessary adjustments, and we had  to take into account that there would be U.S. Citizens visiting the United States Virgin Islands and hearing about the BVI would want to come over for a day trip. Arrangements were therefore made to enable them to enter and spend the day. There was a bit of the fluttering of the feathers and some travel agents tried to preach gloom and doom for the tourist industry. But very good progress was made and there was no decrease in the number of U.S. Citizens visiting the Territory. In fact it increased from year to year.

Perhaps if other territories were prepared  to take the risk then, there would not be cause to panic at this time. If you are leaving the BVI to go to any part of the world you must have your passport and in many cases you must have a visa. When we look a the situation in the world today we can say that the BVI had the vision and the courage to implement a decision that was not so popular but has proven to be a necessity now.

Ralph T. O’Neal