BHA News – Page 53 – Bahamas Hotel Tourism Association

Hotel News

Tourism and Taxes: Addressing the Myths

March 27, 2014admin

While most Bahamians appreciate the essential role that tourism plays in our economy, lives and livelihoods; there is a need to further clarify the tax and revenue contributions to our economy. The goal is to dispel any myths about this industry. We all stand to pay a hefty price if rhetoric drives public taxation policies.

As the Government seeks new revenues to reduce the budget deficit, the tourism industry has become a prime target by some. Tourism leaders understand how important it is to keep our economy in recovery, and believe the industry has paid its fair share.

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Hotel News

BHTA Announces 2014 National Culinary Team

March 24, 2014admin

Introducing Team Bahamas 2014 To Compete At Taste Of The Caribbean 2014

The Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) is proud to announce its national culinary team that will represent the country at the 2014 Taste of the Caribbean, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s (CHTA) annual culinary competition, taking place June 28 – July 2, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency in Miami, FL.

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Hotel News

Grand Bahama Mega-Resort ‘On Course’

March 24, 2014admin

A 2018 opening, the hiring of 9,000 to 10,000 people, and the construction of what will essentially be a mini-city in East Grand Bahama are all said to be “on course” by a proposed $6.3 billion development’s U.S.-based developer, Larry McDonough.
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Hotel News

Abaco Resort Appoints New Executive

March 22, 2014admin

Abaco Beach Resort and Boat Harbour Marina in The Bahamas has announced the appointment of Brent Ingraham as the director of sales and marketing.
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Hotel News

Caribbean Flights To Be Taxed Same As U.S.

March 21, 2014admin

The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) is celebrating the announcement by British Chancellor George Osborne which reforms the United Kingdom’s current four-band system for the Air Passenger Duty (APD) to a two-band system. Under the new two-band system all long-haul flights (over 4,000 miles) will be moved into band B, which means UK customers traveling to the Caribbean will pay the same tax as if they were traveling to the United States. The change is expected to take place April 1, 2015

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Hotel News

VAT Expert: Anti-VAT Hoteliers ‘Never Satisfied’

March 21, 2014admin

Hotel sector representatives that complain about value-added tax (VAT) are simply “greedy and never satisfied”, according to a top regional VAT expert, who argued that it is the quality of the product and not the rate of tax applied to it that will determine a destination’s competitiveness.
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Hotel News

Deadline Fast Approaches For 2014 Tourism Scholarships

March 17, 2014admin

Over the past nine years 104 hotel industry scholarships valued at $428,000 have been awarded to Bahamian students, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), the Bahamas Hotel Employers Association (BHEA) and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Education Foundation (CHTAEF).
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Hotel News

No Hotels Yet Prepared To Upgrade For VAT

March 14, 2014admin

Emphasizing the tourism sector’s “strong opposition” to a July 1 value-added tax (VAT) implementation date, Frank Comito, executive vice president of the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), said that no major hotels have yet felt prepared to begin investing in the technology and other upgrades they would need to implement the tax.
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Hotel News

Tax Policies Must Protect Tourism

March 11, 2014admin

Stuart Bowe Follow the dollar multiplier and it’s clear that ‘Tourism is everybody’s business’. More than 50 cents out of each dollar in every Bahamian’s pocket came from a tourist.

Whether you are working at the front desk in a hotel, operating a hair salon in the city, selling cars in the community, a nurse at a Family Island public clinic, a linesman for BEC, an independent business owner, or a cashier in a grocery store; more than half of that dollar in your pocket came from a tourist.
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