Regional hotel and tourism officials have been given the assurance that CARICOM heads of government will help fight their case to have the United States relax its passport requirements for nationals returning home from the Caribbean. President of the Caribbean Hotel Association, Peter Odle, says during discussions at the Heads of Government Conference, the heads and foreign ministers gave an undertaking that they would assist in that effort. The so-called Western Hemisphere Initiative, which was introduced on January 23, requires US citizens travelling to the Caribbean, Canada, Bermuda and Mexico, to have a passport to return home. US officials recently relaxed the requirement temporarily, but tourism stakeholders want more time. Mr. Odle indicated that revenue for the entire region out of the United States was already off by close to US $500 million as a result of the initiative. Reprinted from radioja.com