News Release Archive
ECONOMIC RENEWAL--NEW TOURIST ACCOMMODATIONS ACT
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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."
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Contact: Michelle McKenzie 902-424-2989
trp Jan. 16, 1996