During the First Annual Caribbean Tourism Summit, Caribbean Tourism Development Company secretary general Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace announced that the CDTC had engaged the services of a lobbying firm to put forward the Caribbean’s special interests that require the support of the US Congress. Among the issues discussed was how the Western Hemisphere Initiative, which requires US citizens to use passports when visiting the Caribbean, had hurt the region, especially because citizens were allowed to cross to Mexico and Canada by land without a passport. The measure affected 75% of the people who had traveled to the Caribbean and did not have passports. Talks would continue to this end. The CDTC has proposed three twists to the requirement that would help:
1) The Caribbean to be regarded as domestic space and travelers to be exempt from paying US$40 for traveling internationally.
2) That duty free allowances would be raised.
3) More pre-clearance facilities opening in the Caribbean.