Category: Hotel News

A study from the Coalition for Responsible Taxation has provided evidence that a payroll tax at six percent would be significantly more beneficial for the country’s number one industry – tourism – than value-added tax, involving less of an “inflationary shock” in the short term, while ultimately achieving a similar level of debt reduction in the long term.
…Continue readingOxford Economics: Payroll Tax Best For Tourism

The new executive director of the Bahama Out Islands Promotion Board (BOIPB) has committed herself to the challenge of increasing tourism and travel to the Family Islands by both Bahamian and international travelers.
…Continue readingNew Executive Director Of Tourism Promotion Board Committed To Growing Arrivals

Despite fears that tourists would abandon New Zealand and flock to Australia after value-added tax (VAT) was implemented in New Zealand, it did not happen, and VAT specialists from New Zealand have argued The Bahamas need not fear a loss of competitiveness either.
…Continue readingNew Zealand Experience Shows Tourism Sector Need Not Fear VAT

Faced with grim signals regarding the concerns of potential visitors to The Bahamas about the cost of vacationing here, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) has argued that The Bahamas is both “uniquely positioned” to capitalize on rising visitor satisfaction levels and very vulnerable to consumer price sensitivities.
…Continue readingPrices Hamper Potential To Capitalize On Satisfaction Levels

The Bahamian tourism sector has reached the edge of a price level “precipice”, garnering just 35 percent of its potential market share due to price increases and standing to lose a further 15 per cent if the cost of a travel package increases by just $200 more, according to a key consultant to the sector.
…Continue readingBahamas At Tourism Price ‘Precipice’

The Bahamas cannot adopt “a deer in the headlights” approach of Value-Added Tax (VAT) is not ready to go come July 1, a Tax Coalition co-chair yesterday calling for a phased approach to reform.

Gowon Bowe said that if the Government knew it was not going to make its implementation deadline, it had to avoid going into “a state of paralysis” and have short-term initiatives on hand to “steady the ship” while the best long-term fiscal reforms were developed.

Agreeing that practical readiness was where the Bahamas had “a tight timeline”, Mr Bowe said there were questions over whether the Government had its own VAT collection systems in place, and if the persons to staff the Central Revenue Agency (CRA) had been hired and trained, “given that this tax has more elements to it”.

“Have they engaged the business community in meaningful and tangible interfacing and testing of how the system works,” the Coalition for Responsible Taxation’s co-chair asked. “These are things of significance. If you’re behind the timelines, you have to look at your ability to forge ahead.”

Mr Bowe and Frank Comito, executive vice-president of the Bahamas Hotel Association, confirmed that “none of the major players in the hotel sector and business community” had been involved in any system testing yet.

And they added that with the new Tariff Schedule yet to be published, and the implementation guidance notes not finalised, it was impossible for companies to get their software and systems ready for VAT compliance.

“Time is not in their favour for July 1,” said Mr Bowe, who added that the Coalition was also set to meet with the Bahamas’ World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiating team to discover what the nation’s likely reduced tariff commitments were, and if they was any “flexibility” in when they could be implemented”.
…Continue readingDon’t Be ‘Deer In Headlights’ If Vat Not Ready July 1