There used to be a time when regional travel was more accessible and dependable.
The Federal Palm and Federal Maple operated up-and-down the island-chain between T&T and Jamaica in the sixties and early seventies, providing reliable passenger and cargo service across the region.
Although it was a product to the failed effort at a West Indian Federation, it was a successful inter-island marine service that boosted the development of trade and travel, offering a glimpse of the benefits of regional integration.
Memories of those two vessels sailing across the Caribbean Sea may have been evoked for some older citizens by the news that the governments of Guyana, Barbados and T&T are pursuing an initiative to provide a regional passenger and cargo ferry system.
Details of the proposed plan are still sketchy.
Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan was unable to shed further light on the announcement made by Guyana President Dr Irfaan Ali, while Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne admitted some of the reporting out of Guyana on it may have been misleading.
However, the news that a ferry service is in the works, limited though it may be to just three Caribbean nations, offers a glimmer of hope that some regional leaders are working to solve the troublesome issue of intra-regional travel.
Word of the proposed ferry service came within days of another announcement related to travel within the Caribbean Community (Caricom) — the liquidation of the debt-ridden Leeward Islands Air Transport Service Limited (LIAT).
Later this month, the regional carrier will cease to exist in its current form. There are plans for the airline to be reformed into a new entity, LIAT (2020), and the finalisation of an arrangement with Air Peace, a private Nigerian airline.
At a glance, however, neither of these developments are likely to have much impact on the high cost of intra-regional travel, a long standing issue facing Caricom leaders for decades.
The high cost of air transport, coupled with insufficient inter-island marine traffic, have been the biggest barriers to one of the goals of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) - the free movement of citizens.
This is a matter that demands concerted action by governments and private sector entities to achieve more affordable and hassle-free movement of goods and people
However, over the decades, Caricom leaders have not been able to pay more than lip service to the issue, acknowledging its vital importance to the region but not responding decisively to the calls from stakeholders in tourism and other relevant industries for action.
The bottom line is that intra-regional travel is unaffordable for most Caricom citizens. Measured on a per-mile-flown basis, this region tops world airfares to the extent that it is cheaper per mile for Caribbean travellers to fly to destinations in North America and Europe than to neighbouring islands.
The high cost of regional travel is the result of the taxes, fees and charges (TFC) that account for 40 per cent of airfares.
That is a major sticking point in the marketing efforts for the various tourism agencies trying to attract Caribbean travellers to their resorts and the carnivals and other cultural events that draw tourists from almost every other part of the world.
It does not require a complicated fix. Lower the cost of travel for business and leisure to enjoy the full benefits of the free movement of Caricom nationals.