The Tourism Levy Bill which was passed in the House of Assembly on Wednesday morning has been removed from the Order Paper for today’s Senate sitting. The government was heavily criticized by members of the public and the Opposition for passing the bill, with many concerns raised about its possible negative impact on the local Airbnb sector.
Today, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet issued the following statement:
After careful consideration, our Government has determined that some sections of the Tourism Levy Bill may seem ambiguous, thus giving rise to a certain level of misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Our Government is not insensitive to some legitimate concerns that have expressed in that regard.
This Act was always intended to help our small tourism related businesses and is too important a piece of legislation to be misunderstood. This legislation is intended to complement what we are doing with village tourism, the marketing of our brand and other destination enhancement programmes to further incorporate and provide benefits to small and medium sized tourism and hospitality businesses.
Notwithstanding that this policy initiative has been extensively discussed for the last three years, we want to make sure that there is clarity in the intent and language of the legislation. Hence, we have decided to remove it off the Order Paper for the Senate at this time to allow the opportunity for further review.
Our small tourism businesses are a very important sector and it is therefore equally important to us and them that we get it right; that the legislation meets its objectives and ensure that the Bill is a true representation and reflection of the Government’s policy intentions.
