News Release Archive
ECONOMIC RENEWAL--NEW TOURIST ACCOMMODATIONS ACT ------------------------------------------------------------ A new Tourist Accommodations Act, which comes into effect today, will assure visitors to Nova Scotia of a high quality of accommodations. The act will also enable small operators, such as one and two-bedroom bed and breakfast accommodations, to access available marketing such as the Doers and Dreamers Guide and the Check-In reservation system. Additionally, it will simplify and update regulations by combining three separate pieces of legislation under one umbrella. The new act replaces the old Hotel Regulations Act, the Innkeepers Act and the Camping Establishments Act. It requires all roofed accommodations, regardless of size, to be inspected and licensed by Tourism Nova Scotia. This is in response to accommodation industry requests, over the past few years, for stricter quality control. The act also proposes definitions for all categories of roofed accommodations, such as hotel, motel, country inn, bed and breakfast, cottages and resorts. "The new act is a long overdue update and simplification that meets the needs of the present day tourism industry in Nova Scotia," said Economic Renewal Minister Robbie Harrison. "It ensures quality control from campsites and one or two-bed room accommodation, through to 300-room-plus hotels." The flat rate licence fee of $5 per property will be updated for the first time in more than 30 years to help recoup service costs. A graduated scale will see licence fees range from $75 for a one-bedroom property to $800 for a property with more than 300 rooms. This makes the Nova Scotia licence fees similar to those in P.E.I. and lower, in some cases, than those in New Brunswick and Newfoundland. "The licence benefits the operators by entitling them to a paragraph listing in the Tourism Guide (500,000 circulation), to distribution of property literature to more than 80 visitor information centres throughout the province and to the use of the Check-In reservation system," said Mr. Harrison. "The changes brought about by this act ensure a higher quality product, will eventually attract more tourists, therefore providing more jobs and benefiting operators, the province and employees." -30- Contact: Michelle McKenzie 902-424-2989 trp Jan. 16, 1996