By CLARE MELLOR Business Reporter
Nova Scotia’s tourist industry wants the province to crack down on unlicensed tourist accommodations, which have become a thorn in the side of legitimate operators.
The problem is the No. 1 complaint of tourist operators, says the chairwoman of the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia. "We have several hundred accommodations that are being rented here in Nova Scotia that are not currently licensed," Susan Tilley-Russell said at a news conference Tuesday that marked the end of a tourism summit in Halifax.
Tourism Minister Len Goucher says the problem of unlicensed accommodations will be dealt with by an upcoming review of the province’s Tourism Accommodation Act but he declined to provide any details at the news conference. "We will start preparing for (the review) in the next month or so," he said.
It is illegal to operate any business in the province without a licence. But changes need to be made to the Tourism Accommodation Act so it clearly defines accommodations and addresses penalties for operators who don’t hold a licence, Ms. Tilley-Russell said.
Tourist homes that operate illegally are cutting into the business of those that are licensed, and are in some cases giving the province a bad reputation, she said. "From an industry perspective, they are not paying any taxes or following any of the rules or legislation that the licensed operators are following currently. And also, as far as visitors are concerned, there are no quality standards — things to do with fire inspection, water safety, property standards — none of those exist if they are not licensed. It’s a real detriment to creating a competitive environment for the province."
The popularity of the Internet has made it easier for people to advertise their cottages or summer homes for rent, Ms. Tilley-Russell said. While the association has reservations about those who are renting their cottages to friends and relatives for cash, it is most concerned about those "people who are running a business," she said. "They may not even be residents in Nova Scotia. You can put up a website and advertise your cottage, for example, and you may live thousands of miles away."
During the summer, the Tourism Department contacted accommodations that were reported to be operating without licences and determined there were fewer than three or four hundred, Mr. Goucher said. Some simply didn’t know they were required to have licences and "some of the ones that were said not to be licensed were licensed," he said.
Despite the ongoing decline in American tourists, Nova Scotia’s tourism revenue is estimated at $1.3 billion for this year, a 1.7 per cent increase over 2005 and on par with revenues in 2004, Mr. Goucher said. "We are holding our own," he told delegates of the summit at a luncheon Tuesday.
A new tourism strategy, put together by industry and government and announced at the summit, involves preservation of Nova Scotia’s wilderness and coastal areas, attracting more air travel, Web-focused marketing and promoting Nova Scotia’s culture.
Mr. Goucher just returned from a meeting of provincial and federal ministers responsible for tourism. He said he and other ministers put forward a proposal to the federal government for a GST/HST exemption for international visitors travelling in group tours or conventions.
Federal Industry Minister Maxime Bernier agreed to take the proposal back to his cabinet colleagues, Mr. Goucher said.
Earlier this fall the federal government announced that effective in April, it would eliminate the visitor GST/HST rebate for travellers to Canada. The rebate allowed all international tourists to get a refund on taxes they paid while visiting Canada.