Caribbean Braces For New U.S. Passport Rules

MIAMI — As the owner of a small bed and breakfast on Grand Bahama Island, Mike Acosta has battled hurricanes, competition with luxury resorts and the vagaries of winter weather in the northern United States, where unexpected warm spells can put a crimp in his business.

Now Acosta and thousands of other tourist operators across the sunny Caribbean are facing a new challenge: as of Jan. 23, American citizens must have passports to get back into the United States. They can no longer jet to the Caribbean with nothing but a driver's license or birth certificate for identification purposes.

"It is worrying," said Acosta, whose Auntie Anne's B&B depends on a steady flow of U.S. tourists. "People might just as soon go somewhere they don't need a passport."

The change in U.S. policy, which also applies to Americans returning by air from Mexico and Canada, was ordered by the Department of Homeland Security as part of a tightening of border rules following the 2001 terrorist attacks. Cruise ship passengers and those entering the United States by land will also need passports, but not until 2008.

Caribbean tourism officials say they understand the reasons for the change, but that doesn't quell their worries that the hassles and costs of obtaining a passport might discourage their most reliable winter market.

"It is a cause of concern," said Arley Sobers, director of research for the Caribbean Tourism Organization, a trade group. "Tourism accounted for $21.5 billion U.S. dollars in the Caribbean in 2005. It's far and away our most important area of economic activity and the U.S. is our largest market, accounting for approximately half our business."

One study commissioned by the World Travel and Tourism Council rattled the region by predicting the change in passport rules could jeopardize up to $2.6 billion in revenues and threaten 188,000 jobs.

So far, Sobers said, there are no reports of a downturn in business approaching that level.

"But the proof of the pudding is in the eating," he said. "We have to see."

John Issa, executive chairman of the SuperClubs resorts, a chain with operations in Jamaica, the Bahamas, Curacao and the Dominican Republic, said his bookings for this winter are actually ahead of last year.

"But last-minute bookings are the cream on the cake," he said. "With cold snaps in the northern U.S., a lot of people say, 'Let's get out of here.' Now if they don't have a passport, they may go somewhere else."

It normally takes Americans from four to six weeks to obtain a passport. The fee is $97 for adults and $82 for children under the age of 16, meaning a family of four might spend nearly $400 for passports. Passports can be obtained in as little as two weeks, but each applicant must pay an additional $60 for expedited service.

The rule change was originally planned for implementation in 2006, but was delayed a year after an outcry by tourist operators.

The one-year reprieve prompted a bevy of promotional and educational campaigns.

Jamaica's government ran ads at U.S. Postal Service outlets in selected markets, along with offering free coffee at commuter stops in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

SuperClubs met the challenge head-on by offering to pay for Americans to obtain their passports, a promotion that so far has had more than 1,500 takers.

Other resorts around the region have offered rebates, discounts, free day-trips, massages and cocktails.

One bitter pill for Caribbean hoteliers is the extra year that cruise-ship passengers get before the rule applies, a product of heavy lobbying by that industry. Many sun-seeking tourists may opt for a cruise instead of a stay on land to avoid the passport hurdle, and that gives the cruise industry an unfair advantage, they say.

"I can't understand how the security concerns are less for people arriving on cruise ships," Issa said. "Less screening for them means less security for them."

The new rules will mean no change for some Caribbean islands such as Barbados, St. Martin and Martinique, which already required arriving Americans to have passports.

It could also mean a boon for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, which are American territories and require only driver's licenses or birth certificates for identity checks. Puerto Rico has run an ad campaign touting itself as a hassle-free "American" beach destination.

But with less than 30 percent of Americans holding passports, the worry for other Caribbean destinations with high numbers of U.S. visitors is significant. In the Bahamas, 87 percent of the tourists come from America, while the number for Jamaica is 73 percent.

In past years, only about 20 percent of Jamaica's American tourists had passports.

"We made history last year by topping 1 million American visitors," said David Shields, deputy director of marketing for the Jamaica Tourism Board. "We're encouraged so far by our bookings for this season, but it's too early to tell if our quick get-away visitors might show a fall-off."

While tourism boards and the big resorts have plowed money into promotions to try to head off a drop in business, most small operators can afford little more than crossing their fingers and hoping for the best.

"I'm afraid it could hurt us," said Barry Benjamin of the 32-room Club Peace and Plenty on the Bahamian island of Exuma. "As far as I can tell our bookings for January have increased, but the biggest impact might be on the mass market, the people who want the best deal and don't have a lot to spend."