Ministry Of Tourism Invites Feedback On Draft Tourism Development Bill – St. Lucia Times News

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In November 2021, Cabinet endorsed a request by the Ministry of Tourism, for a revision of the Tourism Incentives Act, Cap 15.30.

In order to fulfill this mandate, the Ministry conducted a series of consultations in March 2022, involving stakeholders from all subsectors in the tourism industry, to assess the legislative landscape for tourism development, as well as gather feedback to inform the draft Tourism Development Bill.

Based on the recommendations of the stakeholder consultations held in March 2022 andbenchmarking of tourism legislation in other regional and international jurisdictions and with regard to the unique needs of Saint Lucia’s Product and Service, the draft TourismDevelopment Bill was prepared.

In light of this, the Ministry of Tourism is inviting public comment on the draft TourismDevelopment Bill.

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The Bill will facilitate the inclusive, resilient and sustainable development of the tourism industry by providing for certification, special incentives, tax relief and exemptions for certified tourism service providers and other related matters.

The Bill recognizes the prominence of tourism in the social and economic fabric of thecountry and, as such, seeks:

(i) To facilitate the dynamic and diversified nature of tourism industry, thedevelopment of all tourism sub-sectors, and the growth and expansion oftourism niche products and services;(ii) To support inclusive development, i.e., by effectively engaging, involving andmaking special provisions for local tourism investors and by the provision ofappropriate and equitable incentives;(iii) To facilitate the ease of doing business in the tourism industry through theprovision of an efficient incentive application and approval process;

(iv) To promote quality standards for tourism products and services, includingconsistent and high levels of customer service, while protecting health andsafety;(v) To encourage climate resilient tourism business development and supportenvironmental conservation and management (of cultural, heritage/historic,ecological, natural resources etc.) practices in the tourism business sector;(vi) To provide specific support for industry resilience i.e., help with rapid recoverypost-disaster or post crisis by including special allowances including (a) taxbreaks from payment on all international advertising and marketing; post-disaster, and (c) recovery tax breaks;(vii) To boosts the use of technology and the digitalization of the industry insupport of industry competitiveness;(viii) To encourage the use of local suppliers and supporting services as a meansfor linkages and spreading of tourism benefits;(ix) To facilitate the provision of up-to-date information and statistical data by thetourism industry to allow for more effective decision making, policy andstrategy development for advancement of the tourism industry;

In light of the foregoing, the Ministry is cognizant of the importance of public consultation and transparency in the policy development process and as such encourages individuals to become acquainted with the draft Bill and provide comments and feedback to strengthen contents of the Bill.

The deadline for comments is Sunday 31st July, 2022. The draft document will be madeavailable via the following online platforms:

https://slutourism.govt.lc/https://www.facebook.com/MinTourismSLUwww.SLBS.org

Source: Ministry of Tourism

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