New York.– Combinations of consumer disgust and rising prices have cost the travel industry over $26 billion in the last year. This total includes losses that have been estimated at $9 billion for airlines, $6 billion for hotels, $3 billion for restaurants, and $4 billion for governments.

The situation is so dire that no less than Dr. Alan Greenspan was called in to advise the Caribbean Tourism Organization. Greenspan said the long term outlook for Caribbean tourism was positive.

However, short term the Caribbean economy is directly linked to the U.S. dollar, which he predicted would continue to decline against the currencies of developing countries.

The Caribbean (host of over 15 million visitors last year) is four times more dependent on tourism than anywhere else in the world. In Jamaica and the Bahamas the highest levels of government are keenly aware of the fact that the travel industry controls the economic forecasts of their countries. Some Caribbean governments are already discounting airport fees by as much as 45 percent to offset the rising costs being passed on to the consumer.

American Airlines transports 60 percent of visitors to the Caribbean and has announced significant cuts to its services in the Caribbean with more cuts expected.

American announced plans to cut the daily flights into San Juan from 93 to 51 by September 2008. Flights into Santo Domingo, Antigua, St. Maarten, Aruba and Samana will be gone.