 Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to join the member for Caster East and other parliamentarians that have expressed best wishes to our colleague, the member for Babuno, and to wish her a speedy recovery. Mr. Speaker, I also want to start by referring to a news article which had been distributed on loop news today and it was titled that Canada has issued a travel advisory against St. Lucia. The genesis of this article is in a story that was circulated, the same story it was carried by surrogates of the opposition where they sought to spread the news that Canada had issued a travel advisory against St. Lucia and it was done so on the eve of the presentation in this very honorable house of probably the most important piece of legislation on tourism would be debated. The simple truth is Mr. Speaker and I will officially inform loop news that Canada has not issued any travel advisory against St. Lucia and I ask any and every St. Lucia to go on the website and they will see on the website just like in the case of the United Kingdom, the case of the United States, the case of all the major countries, they provide advice to their citizens when traveling to other countries. Canada provides advice to its citizens. You will also see on the page that there are four levels of risk, four levels. St. Lucia like many other Caribbean countries is in the lowest category and it is titled normal security precautions. Very clear that when you travel to St. Lucia you take normal security precautions and I think from my recollection Bahamas, Guyana and probably Jamaica, the only Caribbean countries that are in the second category. The United Kingdom is in the second category which means that in the eyes of the Canadian governments and Lucia is a safer place to visit than even the United Kingdom and like I said you can go on the website, you can see the list of countries, you can see the rating of St. Lucia and what is there is no different to what was there before but it's instructive Mr. Speaker that this story should have been circulated to give the impression that there is a trade advice, a travel advisory against St. Lucia. But they did not Mr. Speaker distribute a story that said St. Lucia has been nominated for six awards in for the upcoming World Travel Awards and the member of Microsoft cannot see the sense in this but the point is you and your surrogates are destined and determined to spread the worst possible news about St. Lucia rather than acknowledge as a country that progress has been made and this gives me greater determination and desire to stand here this morning and to present this bill for this house and I want to continue Mr. Speaker to say and ask this house to recognize the contribution of the staff of the Ministry of Tourism Mr. Speaker. So often we come into this chamber we debate, we argue, we provide information and so much of it is generated by the hard-working civil servants Mr. Speaker. We may have our vision, we may have our clear policy direction that we want to go in but it is made real by the hard-working members of the public service and the members of the representatives of the staff of the Ministry who are seated Mr. Speaker and may I add Tong Enchik unfortunately behind the opposition Mr. Speaker have really contributed tremendously to the putting together this bill Mr. Speaker and the future of the tourism industry Mr. Speaker and they have done so regardless of which party is in power. They've done so regardless. Their commitment to advancing St. Lucia and the development of St. Lucia is not determined by which party is in power. The difference Mr. Speaker is the vision and the leadership and the policy direction that they get and that's what differentiates us from unfortunately the opposition Mr. Speaker. So Mr. Speaker today I send before you as the Minister of Tourism to present what is essentially a strong breaking legislative initiative that will shape the future of tourism in our beloved country. It is with great enthusiasm Mr. Speaker that I introduce the Tourism Development Bill. A piece of legislation Mr. Speaker that is designed that will redesign, redefine, restructure and reinvigorate the tourism industry in St. Lucia. Tourism is important to St. Lucia. In the 2022 social economic review it is stated Mr. Speaker that the industry accounts for 18.2% of the country's GDP Mr. Speaker and has a monetary value of over one billion EC dollars. Tourism's contribution to GDP averaged 21% Mr. Speaker prior to the COVID-19 era and then had a monetary value of 1.16 billion dollars. These contributions Mr. Speaker do not account for the contributions of the informal sector which according to the 2016 tourism satellite account for St. Lucia accounted for an additional 19% of GDP. So if you add the direct and the indirect Mr. Speaker you're talking about almost 40% of our GDP is related to tourism. Tourism is also the largest foreign exchange earner accounting for approximately 76% of the island's export via both the formal and the informal sectors as was determined by the 2016 TSA. Consequently the tourism sector is the largest employer in the economy with the industry directly employing 16.4% of the labor force with only the wholesale and retail sectors being the second largest employer with 14% contribution. In December 2022 employment in the sector was approximately 12,250 persons. Of course we are slowly returning to pre-COVID levels where we had about 15,000 employees in the sector. The tourism industry is a vital component of our economy contributing significantly to job creation, economic growth and the promotion of our cultural heritage. By all accounts this legislation which we are going to debate today will grow the economy beyond what it has achieved. It will engage more locals within the industry and allow for a greater impact of the tourism dollar. It will develop our tourism workforce and it will help our economy become more sustainable. You may ask Mr. Speaker what is the foundation of this bill? How did it evolve to be where it is today? You see Mr. Speaker for many years tourism in St. Lucia had been defined by sun, sand and sea. The predominance of all inclusive hotels. It is within this context that in 1996 the Tourism Incentives Act Cap 1530 was passed. It was the first major legislative act in support of the tourism industry. The legislation provided for tourism development with a focus on tourism recreation, transportation, accommodation and licensing. That was in 1996. Again not know the operative word. It had a heavy focus on all inclusives Mr. Speaker. However in 1997 we witnessed a second decision which commenced the transformation of the industry. Honourable Philip J. Pierre was Minister of Tourism. Kenyantini the member for Viford South was Prime Minister. The banana industry had collapsed. There was mayhem in the rural communities. St. Lucia's future was in doubt. It was then a decision was taken to transition to a service-based economy centered around tourism and financial services. The rest is history. No matter how anybody tries to revise history, history is history. I recall then a discussion with the Minister of Tourism Honourable Philip J. Pierre who was making a case for greater institutional strength in his ministry. He was passionate about the critical role that tourism would play in the future development of St. Lucia and he argued then with the Prime Minister Kenyantini that we needed to get it right immediately. And one of the first acts he did Mr. Speaker was a simple act but a powerful one. The gate between the cruise terminal and the vendors arcade was always locked and the vendors kept arguing and complaining that they could not get cruise passengers to come into the vendors arcade and the instructions were given that that gate must be open henceforth to allow passengers to leave the ship and to be able to visit the arcade. A very simple act but it was powerful because there's a statement that everyone in St. Lucia, all sectors must benefit from the tourism honour. In 1999 the St. Lucia heritage tourism programme was established by a grant funded from the European Union to improve the competitiveness of the destination, to create linkages and importantly to distribute the wealth of the sector across the country. To this end several sites and attractions were established with the provision of grants and technical assistance, promotion and sales distribution. In 2006 the then SLP administration saw wisdom in diversifying away from the all-inclusive accommodation model and used sports tourism as a mechanism to drive the development of vocation rentals and decentralising accommodation. This objective was pursued by leveraging cricket woke up with a provision of fiscal incentives for the development of home accommodation options to cater to the influx of visitors to the event. This initiative stimulated accommodation linkages and created opportunities for support and maintenance staff, property management companies and other support industries. Another pivotal time for the industry was in 2008 when the world went through economic challenges brought on by the Great Recession. As we are all aware the fall of United States banking giant Lehman Brothers led to a global capital crunch which had devastating effects on the industry. Not only did it prohibit any potential future investment it also resulted in the collapse of ongoing development such as the parody development and I'm pleased to announce Mr. Speaker that we are in very advanced discussions on the recommencement of that project Mr. Speaker and the Black Bay development. After years of slow growth the then SLP government determined that it was necessary to develop a sunset legislation to spool up construction as a means to jumpstart economy growth, create employment and to expand the room stock decided to pass another piece of legislation. This was a genesis of the tourism stimulus and investment at Cup 1503 TSA which was passed in 2014. This act was skewed towards large-scale accommodation and again Mr. Speaker it highlights the fact that our tourism industry as we knew it was heavily skewed towards accommodation and for large-scale investments Mr. Speaker. However despite the success of the TSA over the years the landscape of global tourism has evolved significantly. This has been reflected in the changes in visitor preferences away from the all-inclusive hotels to smaller more intimate or culturally authentic tourism products in the accommodation sectors. This has manifested in the growth of vocation rental properties and other small instances of accommodation. Interestingly research by the ministry has found that this sub-sector is characterized by high levels of local ownership and I want few honorable members Mr. Speaker to focus on it that the home accommodation the small-scale accommodation options are largely owned and dominated by local persons Mr. Speaker. It should be noted Mr. Speaker that this development is an inversion of what existed before and it is a right development Mr. Speaker because Mr. Speaker we have seen over the years that the accommodation sub-sector has been characterized by high levels of economic leakages Mr. Speaker. This has been due primarily to the full to the fact that the full realization of the economic benefits of the sector are actually being repatriated because they are foreign owned Mr. Speaker and characterized by high imports Mr. Speaker and we will come back to this point later on when we speak about our incentives regime to show how we're going to be incentivizing to import to use more local rather than import. So this new tourism development bill Mr. Speaker will cater directly to the entrepreneurial interests among our locals in the emerging sub-sectors of the tourism industry. It will seek to reduce the barriers to accessing fiscal incentives and also it will expand the range of incentives available to local operators who are our people Mr. Speaker. This Mr. Speaker is a singular defining characteristic of this bill and the proposed structure of the tourism industry of the future. It will seek to ensure that solutions can participate more in the tourism industry and can own more of the tourism industry. So Mr. Speaker, whilst we are encouraging our citizens to invest in the tourism sector, the bill will also demand a accountability of all investments. Investors will now be required to demonstrate specific matrices to qualify for additional incentives. With our accountability comes benefits. Additionally, our government is cognizant that visitors are demanding more culturally authentic food, events, tours and exclusions. This was highlighted in the tourism strategy and action plan 2020-2040 which reiterated the need for greater investment in the development of a wider variety of self-adventure tours as a means to diversify in the product towards changing visitor preferences. The action plan also called for the stronger implementation of standards in the industry as the quality varied widely from one operator to the next. The findings of the action plan demonstrated that we find ourselves at a critical juncture where it is imperative to adapt to these changing dynamics, addressing our deficiencies and positioning our country as a competitive force in the global tourism market. Taking all these factors into consideration, this administration has embarked on changing the tourism industry from what it is. The first phase of this was the enactment of the Community Tourism Development Act. This act was designed to capitalise on the growing demand for culturally authentic tourism experiences by providing industrial solutions with business development support, capacity building, concessionary financing, fiscal incentives, marketing and sales support and other needed assistance. The act is focused on the sub-sectors of food and beverage, tourism recreation and small-scale accommodation, all of which marked high levels of local ownership. This is a legislation that was tailored to put the people first. This bill, Mr. Speaker, which we are going to debate today, is the next phase, Mr. Speaker, the next phase of transforming the tourism industry. And that is what we are going to discuss today, the new tourism development bill. Again, legislation underpinned by the philosophy of putting the people first and allowing our people to improve and become investors of safeguarding our sector for future generations. And, Mr. Speaker, that's important. This bill, Mr. Speaker, is about ensuring that our people can become investors and they can safeguard the tourism industry for future generations. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Deputy Speaker, our greatest natural resources are our extraordinary physical beauty and our people, the pitors, the mountains, beaches, forests, our smiles, our warmth and all of that belong to us, our collective and common heritage. It brings the wealth of the tourism industry and we must strive to own it and benefit from it more than any other, Mr. Speaker. We envisage that this legislation will foster an all-inclusive approach to the development of tourism in St. Lucia. By inclusive, Mr. Speaker, I mean that Majord from Trousel, who has space in a backyard and who wants to organize it to host visitors, can share her local cooking delights, can access fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to build an authentic experience which is in keeping with national standards. And that this bill, tourism is for everyone, Mr. Speaker. Recognizing the tremendous potential of tourism as a conduit for change and prosperity, I stand with immense pride to present this bill which will change our tourism landscape and set a proactive tone to harness in the full potential of our country's shared natural beauty, historic significance and cultural richness. Mr. Speaker, let's take a look at the provisions of the bill. Part one, the establishment of a Department of Tourism clauses 3 to 38. The Tourism Development Bill 6 facilitates several objectives. These include one, inclusive, resilient and sustainable tourism development. And I need to pause there, Mr. Speaker, to reiterate what does inclusive, resilient and sustainable tourism development means. For us, Mr. Speaker, inclusive means that all solutions, that all communities can benefit from the tourism industry. No matter where you are, no matter which part of St. Lucia, we must create an enabling environment that all communities and all solutions can benefit from the tourism industry. It must be resilient, Mr. Speaker. It must have the strength and the capacity for it to rebound whenever there are challenges and whenever there are setbacks. It would make no sense if the industry is fragile and cannot have the innate capacity for it to rebound when faced with challenges. And it must be sustainable, Mr. Speaker, in all dimensions, environmental, social, economic, cultural, Mr. Speaker. We must have an industry that can live on for future generations. We must give the ownership of that industry to St. Lucia to ensure it can bring greater benefit. It must be culturally rooted, Mr. Speaker. And more importantly, it must respect the environment in which it exists. To, Mr. Speaker, to provide for administration by the department responsible for tourism development. Number three, creation of the tourism development fund and the tourism information database and monitoring. Number four, to provide for tourism certification. Number five, incentives for tourism investment, specialized support area and resilience. And six, imposition, collection, assessment and remittance of a tourism levy. To achieve these objectives, a significant transformation awaits the Ministry of Tourism under this new tourism development bill. Transitioning from a passive facilitator regulator to a progressive, purposeful and proactive revenue-generating agency. This transformative step is designed to fortify the department's capacity to better serve the dynamic needs of the tourism industry in the modern era. And, Mr. Speaker, well, I'll come to the point a little later, Mr. Speaker. But because of the nature of the tourism important bill, Mr. Speaker, we have to ensure that the department of tourism which is provided for in the bill has the institutional capacity. Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure if you're aware, presently there are only seven technical officers in the Ministry of Tourism, seven. And the member will tell you when he became Minister in 1997, there was only one technical officer in the Ministry of Tourism. And you look at all the ministries, there's a chief medical officer, chief agricultural officer, chief engineer, chief education officer, across all the ministries. There's only one ministry where there's no chief technical officer and that's tourism. Think about it. And yet this is the agency that is overseeing and managing the greatest contributor to the economic development of this country, to have only seven technical officers, Mr. Speaker, managing the lifeblood of this country. The engine that really propels this country forward, Mr. Speaker, is not adequate and this bill provides for the establishment of a department of tourism that is properly staffed, Mr. Speaker. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, to strengthen its operations, the bill proposes formation of several committees designed to foster collaboration between public, private and non-profit organizations for advancing its key functions. The bill therefore institutionalizes the interagency committee called the Tourism Advisory Committee, which was established under the last government and has been maintained due to its value in keeping all members abreast and sharing perspectives on tourism related matters. The functions assigned to this department are varied and far-reaching, each carefully crafted to address the dynamic challenges and opportunities within the tourism industry. In the interest of time, these functions can be summarized in eight key points. One, developing niche markets. Two, improving ease of doing business. Three, certification and quality standards. Four, information statistical data. Five, encouraging linkages. Six, destination management. Seven, annual tourism awards scheme, the GMS. Eight, public-private sector partnerships. Mr. Speaker, let's go on to part two, tourism certification, clauses 39 to 61. At present, Mr. Speaker, neither the Ministry nor the St. Lucia Tourism Authority has a formal registry of the person's products and services within the sector. An industry so important, carrying the future of this country, carrying the economic development of this country cannot tell you who are all the person's products and services that operate within the sector. This absence, Mr. Speaker, hinders progress in that the government is unable to collect sufficient data to plan for development and ensure the minimum standards have been met. Consequently, the Ministry is not able to accurately determine which operators require technical assistance to deliver a better quality service, Mr. Speaker. In order to unlock the entire potential of the industry, it is important that we recognize that tourism is an export and in order to be competitive, it must meet international standards for service delivery. And I want to repeat it, Mr. Speaker. Tourism is an export. And for us to continue to be competitive, we must be able, Mr. Speaker, to meet international standards, Mr. Speaker. It is with this understanding that this new legislation makes provision for the implementation of an industry-wide certification program, ensuring that every single tourism sector partner directly involved in tourism, directly involved in tourism, whether small, medium or large, will offer a product or service that meets or even exceeds national, regional, and international standards. This is important in the context of the findings of the tourism strategy and action plan 2020-2030, which found that there was a lack of consistency in the quality of the products offered on island, ranging from extremely high quality to below minimum standards. Hence, to ensure consistency in our overall tourism product, all operators will be required to be certified in order to offer a product or service to a visitor. This is vital, Mr. Speaker. As a failure of just one operator to adhere to proper standards, can have a proportionate impact on the overall perception of the destination, Mr. Speaker. As such, with the enactment of this bill, all operators must in adherence to standards and other national requirements, for example, a pool license, public health license, etc. They must ensure that they are certified. We've been doing a very good job so far, Mr. Speaker, but there are complaints from visitors, and there are concerns about some deficiencies. This kind of certification, Mr. Speaker, when achieved will reassure visitors, international business partners, and potential investors that the destination is safe, Mr. Speaker. Its quality is assured, and that St. Lucia delivers on the service promised through our marketing campaigns. Maintaining a safe, customer-friendly, and high quality reputation will be critical going forward if St. Lucia is to continue its competitive edge in the market. This is important as competition rumps up from other destinations in the Caribbean. Implementing a certification program is an investment which will assist the marginalized, including small, medium, and micro-operators. Our small operators, the micro, the small, medium, believe certification is a penalty or is punitive. It is really enhancing their competitiveness, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the certification program is designed to be inclusive. It is anticipated that there are existing operators who do not meet minimum standards, as I said. As such, in clauses 42 and 43, a two-tier system has been developed where those fully established and mid-national standards advance to receiving a tourism operator certificate for a two-year period, and those requiring improvement to be granted a conditional certificate for a one-year period. Recognizing that this may not be adequate to address the necessary deficiencies of some operators, our government has advocated for a conditional certificate to be renewed for a maximum of two years, three years in all. So, basically, if you've met the standards you will get your certificate, and if you've not met it you will get a conditional certificate for one year where you would be required to upgrade your standards. And if, Mr. Speaker, you have not done so, you will be given an extension but a maximum conditional certificate period that you can have is three years. So, in this essence, we are saying we will work with you for a period of three years to make sure that you meet the standards, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, coming out of the tail codes of the COVID-19 pandemic, we recognize that many small businesses may not have fully recovered from their losses, Mr. Speaker. As an administration that puts the people first, our government will absorb all fees associated with the certification process for all tourism operators for the first two years after the enactment of the deal. And that's really important, Mr. Speaker. We're saying to you, we require everyone to be certified. There are those we have to work with, give them technical assistance, give them advice, give them support. The government will meet the course of that for the first two years, Mr. Speaker. So, the first cycle of certification will be carried by the government. Thereafter, Mr. Speaker, operators will have to pay for the attainment of their certificate, Mr. Speaker. Our priority, Mr. Speaker, is not to extract from the industry, but to ensure the consistent provision of high quality products and services to every visitor who touches our soil. In furtherance to fulfill our obligations to attaining United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and to support the work of the Department of Sustainable Development, this bill will introduce and recognize entities which demonstrate environmental conservation and sustainable business practices, Mr. Speaker. We plan to be serious about our commitment to the SDGs, Mr. Speaker. This will be achieved via awarding of an Eco-Lution Sustainable Tourism Certificate with accompanying benefits, Mr. Speaker. The Eco-Send-Lution Sustainable Tourism Certificate is not a requirement for operation, but was developed in support and recognition of tourism service providers who demonstrate low carbon and resource use efficiency, environmental protection and conservation best practices, and other climate smart actions taken through adaptation and mitigation strategies. Mr. Speaker, this is an important aspect of this bill. It's a recognition that as a country the commitments we make internationally, the commitments we make to creating a sustainable development environment goes across all sectors, Mr. Speaker, and tourism service operators will be recognized for their adherence to those SDGs, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we believe that this certification will complement our brand image and marketing, because when we say that St. Lucia is a particular type of destination we must demonstrate it, Mr. Speaker, and this will be achieved through our certification process. This certification, Mr. Speaker, which is unique in the region, will differentiate St. Lucia as a leader in sustainable tourism and set a template which can be followed by other jurisdictions. The St. Lucia Tourism Authority is already preparing a dedicated platform to highlight all operators who have made the bold steps at sustainable tourism. One of the awards under the GEMIS is Sustainable Operator of the Year. With regards, Mr. Speaker, while as I mentioned GEMIS, to the implementation of an annual tourism award scheme, the GEMIS, in clause 4 subsection 5, sorry, Mr. Speaker, it states that the government firmly believes in rewarding positive behavior and providing a platform to highlight the unsung heroes who go over and over to make St. Lucia internationally recognized. In April 2023 we saw the inaugural hosting of the St. Lucia Tourism Awards, which was developed by the ministry and branded by the St. Lucia Tourism Authority. The awards coin, the GEMIS, was designed by our world-renowned sculptor Mr. Jaleh Miodovic, which faces Gopito, Piti Pito and Monjimi. The trophy celebrates Monjimi as the highest pick on island and signifies the highest level of service excellence in the tourism sector. We say congratulations to all the GEMIS recipients of 2023 and encourage the sector to push on through and deliver the best towards excellence. And I ask all members to look forward to April 23, 2024, on April 13, Mr. Speaker, and I know you will all join us and I want to make a special appeal to the opposition to also join us on that day, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move on to part 3, Social Partnership, clauses 62 to 75. A sustainable tourism destination is one where all stakeholders and all stakeholders are participating and collaborating effectively in the development, management and marketing of the destination. Sustainable tourism considers the environment, culture, history, financial sustainability and the social context within which it exists. The International Labour Organization, ILO, plays a significant role in promoting social partnership as a means of addressing labour and employment issues. Social partnership is a collaborative approach involving governments, employers, organisations and trade unions working together to achieve common goals related to labour standards, social protection and economic development. With tourism commanding the major segment of the labour force, the department of tourism under the guidance of our government felt it necessary to subscribe to the principles of the ILO which promises to elevate and promote the tripartite relationships. Social policies, legislation and encouraged consultation and collaboration among government workers within that sector and their employers. And this is very significant Mr. Speaker. The concept of social partnership, all stakeholders working together, labour, employer and government to resolve issues, to consult, to collaborate and to ensure that we create an environment where the industry can thrive because there is a common understanding of the destiny of the people and how tourism can play such a role Mr. Speaker. As such, the criteria for social partnership has been built to consider the tourism workforce at the core and rewarding employers via additional incentives and providing opportunities for marketing. Mr. Speaker. It is within this context that the tourism development bill which will be called the TDA introduces the concept of social partnership to the tourism industry. This term refers to the collaborative arrangement in tourism with the objective of promoting dialogue and collaboration between an employer, employees and the government all in an effort to advance inclusive, resilient and sustainable tourism. It is anticipated that this collaborative network will be an incubator for innovative solutions to sometimes complex issues which may arise in the industry and the communities within which they reside in. An operator deemed to have made the necessary qualifications through the cabinet of ministers will be issued a social partner certificate for duration of five years on the condition that the partner maintains the practices, values and principles promoted under the certification. So Mr. Speaker, you may ask me what are the practices which would make an operator eligible to be declared a social partner? They include sustainability and linkages. This can be demonstrated through evidence of purchases from local suppliers, hiring of persons from the host community engaging in tourism regenerative practices such as composting, recycling, water conservation, harvesting of solar energy and the use of energy, efficient equipment and appliances. Two, capacity building and corporate social responsibility. This can be demonstrated by a conscious effort to reinvest in human resource through capacity building and reinvesting portions of surplus profits towards philanthropic activities such as charity scholarships and volunteer efforts within the community and nation building. And thirdly, employee equity. The treatment of employees is also a clear indicator that a social partner is conscious of the business greater role within a community. Businesses that provide opportunities for upward mobility offers wages above the norm, provides a welfare benefit and opportunities for youth to gain quality internship experiences will be excellent candidates for certification, Mr. Speaker. And at this point, Mr. I want to recognize just a few days ago at Sports Award the winner for the corporate sponsor of Sports for 2023 was Jade Mountain and Shasti, Mr. Speaker. And also, Mr. Speaker last week, the Minister of Education myself, we invited to be part of the official opening of the Sandals Early Childhood Centre at San Susi, where 65 children of employees from Sandals, the children are catered for in a facility built and managed by Sandals. These are perfect examples of what we would call a social partner. So, Mr. Speaker, a key benefit of being a social partner is that businesses can demonstrate that the operations and investments are in alignment with global environmental social and corporate governance, what we call the ESGs. This is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for accessing loan financing or grant funding with bilateral and multilateral funding organizations. Other benefits include the inclusion of social partners in the overall promotion of St. Lucia as a sustainable destination with best practices for public and private sector relations in tourism. The pathway towards building economic resilience lies in the ability of government and businesses to work together to secure livelihoods and the declaration of a business as a social partner is government's way of showing appreciation and commitment towards the business community and the citizenry. Part 4, tourism incentives. And this part probably is one of the most transformative aspects of the bill. And you can find it in clauses 76 to 95. The tourism development bill at clauses 76 to 97 introduces a comprehensive overhaul of fiscal incentives designed to provide a more robust framework for incentivizing investment in the construction, expansion, upgrade, and improvement of businesses and products within the tourism sector. At the heart of the tourism development bill lies a commitment of our government to expand the range of tourism businesses eligible for fiscal incentives. We heard the call from our people for equity. And you would recall in my commencement I spoke of how the legislation that exists favors accommodation and favors large scale investment. This bill transforms this Mr. Speaker. So by broadening the eligibility criteria our government aims to stimulate greater local investment within the industry, driving economic growth and fostering job creation. This forward thinking approach Mr. Speaker recognizes the need to accommodate a diverse array of tourism enterprises providing a foundation for the industry's resilience and adaptability. One example of this in this bill is the redefining of the concept of hotel to include accommodation providers who have less than six rooms before a hotel can only be defined as a property with more than six rooms. This is in recognition of the growth in popularity of vocation rental properties which our government began in St. Lucia since Cricket World Cup. And more importantly the trend of high levels of local ownership in this sub sector. So to capitalize on this development and increase investment in the sub sector under this new tourism development bill accommodation properties with one or more rooms will be able to access fiscal incentives in the same manner as a large hotel. It is also important to note that under the current legal framework only, only the accommodation sub sector benefits from waivers of value added tax, corporate tax, property tax, alien and older license fees, stem duty and vendors tax for an approved development as it exists. Only accommodation sector sub sector benefits from that. Under this new bill these waivers will be available to all sub sectors for the approved projects where applicable. And of course most solutions invest in other sub sectors and they will not able to qualify for those incentives. Now they will be able to qualify for it. The bill also offers special incentives for businesses undertaking projects for resilience or reconstruction after damage from natural disasters and that's critical Mr Speaker. Really important as we build a resilient industry. With tourism being our main economic sector recovery after disasters and other shocks may be a priority of any government in the Caribbean nowadays. We must propel the industry towards recovery. These special incentives include waivers of stem duty on mortgages and loans, custom service charge, contract tax and grant funding. With this bill our government recognizes the need to recalibrate tourism in St Lucia to force a more equitable and sustainable business environment. How can this be achieved? You may ask me Mr Speaker. Well, it depends on how you use your incentives. We will incentivize the type of corporate behavior that will be more equitable and sustainable to the long term benefit of St Lucia and St Lucia. To this end there will be a change in the current approach of awarding 100% waivers on projects. We're going to change it. Under the new bill we're going to be able to create a more sustainable business environment. We're going to be able to create a more sustainable business environment. Under the new bill most projects will be approved at 50%. And operators will be able to benefit from a higher rate if they are able to demonstrate adherence to key indicators. So Mr Speaker, I know you're asking what are those indicators? These indicators include above average salaries for staff 40% or more of purchases made to local suppliers. Human resource development for staff and investment in corporate social responsibility. These are essential indicators Mr Speaker among others. This approach encourages companies not only to fry financially but also to contribute meaningfully to local communities and elevate the standard of living for their employees Mr Speaker. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between businesses and society and showing that prosperity is shared equitably. And you'll recall I started off by saying our greatest natural resources, our beauty. The people belong to St Lucia it is our common heritage and if that is leveraged to make profits we should have a right to see two investors and developers which would share in those profits as well. Moreover by acknowledging and rewarding businesses that actively engage in responsible practices. This revamped fiscal incentives regime positions St Lucia as a beacon of ethical business practices attracting socially conscious investors and fostering sustainable industry growth for the long term. But five levy causes 99 to 123. It has been a longstanding desire that returns from the tourism industry should fund its market in. In this regard I applaud the former administration for finally getting a regime in place. The tourism levy came into effect on December 1st 2020. At that time the decision of the then government was to reduce the strain on central government to put the responsibility on the tourism sector to generate revenue for marketing. This was based on a per night fee for visitors based on the cost of the accommodation. We all know that tourism and travel has been rebounding from the impact of COVID-19 and therefore the levels which were anticipated have not been achieved. Additionally some hotels have been closed at various periods for renovation. As part of the implementation of the poor visitor nightly rate the levy was legislated to be collected by some accommodation properties who benefited from tourism incentives. So only some of them paid the levy. As a country we invest heavily each year although we pale in comparison to marketing budgets of some of our neighboring countries. And we do so to ensure that our destination remains relevant for the four of the minds of travellers. Every service provider within the tourism industry benefits. Every service provider in the industry benefits. Therefore in order to ensure equity and increase the collection to meet the marketing needs of the destination and to maintain our position and to open up new markets the bill proposes to repeal the tourism levy act number 11 of 2020 and expand its remit to ensure that every stayover visitor pays into the pool. In clause 99 the bill proposes that the tourism levy is applied across the sector. This has been thought of as a proposal for the future as we believe that the progress that my government has been making to develop the industry comments since July 2021 when we came into government will continue. However as a social partner to the tourism operators we will ensure full consultation before the levy is applied to any other sector. So it is a proposal of the future and before we take that step we will consult all sectors. But we believe that since every sector, every service provider benefits everybody should contribute. That said the levy will for now only be applied to tourism accommodation and the regulations will so provide. Tourism, taxes and levies are widespread in many destinations. It is not new Mr. Speaker to have tourism levies and taxes Mr. Speaker. We have learned since implementation of the levy that we need to make some changes and the new bill Mr. Speaker will provide for those changes. One of which Mr. Speaker is so stipulate that the currency to be used should be the eastern Caribbean dollar to move away from collectors remitting at varying exchange rates Mr. Speaker. We understand the need for us to have penalties for late remittances Mr. Speaker. The need also for us to make it less burdensome for the property owners Mr. Speaker by reducing the need for submission of weekly reports to now fortnightly reports Mr. Speaker. So those minor changes would be reflected in the new bill Mr. Speaker. I move on quickly to the tourism development fund causes 136 to 145 another novel innovation that is added to this bill Mr. Speaker. The proposed tourism development bill introduces a transformative provision of the establishment of the tourism development fund called the fund. A sustainable instrument designed to support the needs of the tourism industry as well as the overarching goals of tourism development and destination marketing. The vision is bold that the activities of the industry overseen by the department of tourism will be financed by the industry. It has to be our vision Mr. Speaker. The primary objective of the fund is to facilitate the seamless operation of the department of tourism. Drive the strategic development of the tourism sector and to provide Mr. Speaker support for comprehensive tourism marketing initiative. By centralizing the financial resources the fund aims to enhance the overall efficiency and efficacy of tourism related activities in alignment with our national goals. The fund's financial pool will comprise diverse revenue streams and join robust and sustainable funding. These include any sums allocated by parliament for whatever purposes. Surplus from the tourism levy, donations from CSR, regional or international grants received by the ministry of tourism, fees charged under the act, and any other sums payable too or vested in the ministry of tourism. This diverse funding structure reflects a commitment to financial flexibility and resilience in supporting the dynamic needs of the tourism sector. How will the funds be utilized? The tourism development fund is a cornerstone in financing critical initiatives encompassing infrastructural development, special promotional campaigns, disaster recovery, and capacity building within the tourism industry. This comprehensive approach ensures that the fund serves as a strategic enabler for both short term strategic requirements and long term sustainable growth. Transparency and accountability to maintain transparency and accountability the bill outlines clear guidelines for the allocation, disbursement and auditing of the tourism development fund. Regular reporting mechanisms will be established to the cabinet by the board to communicate the fund's performance, and joint stakeholders are informed about its impact on tourism development. In essence, the tourism development bill represents a significant step forward in fortifying the foundation of Saint Lucia's tourism industry. Part 7, tourism information. Mr. Speaker, we've been reporting tourism arrivals as the main indicator for tourism development. But this does not answer what the true impact of tourism is. In order for more effective decision making and to ensure that the appropriate policies and strategies are crafted and implemented by the Department of Tourism, accurate and timely data from the industry must be available. Data collection which will also support the country's tourism satellite account and a deep analysis of information must be featured as part of the new legislation. We have made significant strides thus far and can report on utilities, direct spending by visitors, et cetera, et cetera. For example, for 2022, $140 million was paid by the tourism industry in the form by way of utilities from their commission. Sorry, let me say it again. $140 million was paid to utilities by the accommodation sector alone in 2022. $140 million. And that's water, electricity and telecoms. The Department of Tourism should be given the legal authority to collaborate with other governmental agencies as well as tourism operators to request and obtain pertinent information to plan for the future. And Mr. Speaker, I have to end at this point Mr. Speaker. And I want to end Mr. Speaker by saying as a government we've heard the cries of our people that they want a tourism industry that reflects their aspiration. They can see in the tourism industry a connection, Mr. Speaker. Too often we hear solutions expressed and believe that the tourism industry is something foreign that is imposed on them. It is something where foreigners come in and take money out of the solution and live with it. We need to restructure the industry. And this bill is an attempt, Mr. Speaker to do exactly that. To redesign, to restructure the tourism industry, to reimagine its possibilities, Mr. Speaker. And therefore, Mr. Speaker, as I present to this honourable house and to my colleagues, I ask for their support, Mr. Speaker, in having a bill, Mr. Speaker, that will ensure we deliver to our people what they aspire in the tourism industry. And for it to bring to them greater benefits than they're having right now, Mr. Speaker. It is going to be a difficult task, but together as a country, as a people, we can design a tourism industry that brings out the best to our people, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I ask for your support.