Tourism minister out of step

There is an old joke: a mom watching her son on parade stated “Look, everyone is out of step except my son.”

This joke has its parallel today, the only thing is, it is not all that funny.

As we enter Tourism Week, the tourism industry is at a critical juncture. We believe that we are about to see an influx of new guests driven by our growing positive reputation, the success of “Come from Away” and Anthony Bourdain’s recent review.

But are we ready? Can we meet our guests’ expectations?

The industry, led by Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador, believes that, at least when it comes to accommodations, we are not ready.

Recently, an accommodator, that had operated an unlicensed accommodation for a number of years, was persuaded by his local tourism association to become licensed.

Upon inspection, what did he find? The fire detection system that he assumed worked to protect his guests, was not installed properly and did not work.

The second storey windows, that regulations require allow guests to exit the building in the case of emergency, did not open wide enough to permit guests to exit. And there were other short comings.

Under the current environment and lack of enforcement, he could have continued to operate an unlicensed accommodation until one day the unthinkable may happen. And remember, as an unlicensed accommodation, he is not even required to have insurance.

This is, but one example of the situations that our present tourism minister, Christopher Mitchelmore, is prepared to tolerate.

Despite the pleading of the industry, despite the insistence of Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador; the minister, for his own private reasons, is choosing not to enforce the present legislation that requires all accommodations to be licensed.

Neither is he prepared to bring in new legislation that would set expectations for tourism in this province to meet the demands of the twenty first century. Why? We can only hope that he is prepared when the unthinkable happens?

Let me be clear. The industry is not trying to reduce competition. We welcome it.

We do, however, want our guests to be safe, to be treated well, to have the experiences they anticipated when they chose to visit our beautiful province.

Licensed accommodators also want the competition to be fair; to pay their fair share; to contribute to growing our industry; and, most importantly, to have our guests leave our province raving about their great experiences, having been cared for and cared about.

Is this too much to ask of our minister? Isn’t that what he is the Minister of Tourism is for — to ensure quality stays and experiences that live up to the wonderful commercials — created under the direction of his department.

Minister, make Tourism Week 2018 one to remember by taking guidance from the industry. We need your support. We need you to act.

We need you in step.

Wayne Hallett

Road to the Beaches Tourism Association