A call has been made for governments across the region to cut back on the escalating cost of air travel or face the inevitable decline of tourism in the Caribbean. St. Lucia's former Tourism Minister, Phillip J. Pierre, said the governments will have to look at the possibility of subsidising airlift but cautioned that this move had its own pitfalls. The cost of air travel within the region has become a source of concern in recent weeks for industry players, who have argued that the situation is likely to undermine the emerging CARICOM Single Market and Economy by curtailing movement. St. Lucia has seen a steady decline in tourist arrivals from the Caribbean so far this year, with as much as a 40 per cent fall-off for the month of February alone. The Caribbean represents the third biggest market behind the USA and UK, for St. Lucia. Earlier this year LIAT and Caribbean Star announced a commercial alliance as a prelude to an eventual merger of the two airlines. At the time, critics of the initiative warned that it effectively created a monopoly that would result in skyrocketing prices. Reprinted from radioja.com