Tourism Officials Iron Out Minimum Standards Policy For Accommodation Sector

Contact: John Emmanuel

Monday, August 20, 2001 - Ministry of Tourism officials are continuing to make refinements to a draft Minimum Standards Policy aimed at governing the operations of hotels, guesthouses and restaurants on the island. Ministry officials say a special sub-committee comprising various representatives from the St. Lucia Tourist Board, the Hotel and Tourism Association and the Bureau of Standards will meet again in coming days to iron out the policy before it is passed on to the Cabinet of Ministers for ratification.

Tourism Standards Officer at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation Ann Margaret Xavier says hopefully the standards committee will have a say in the licensing of the various establishments within the industry.

“As you may have realized there is a lot of variance in the product, quality and level of services within the industry. We have varying types of accommodations and also there is a lack of consistency in the type and quality of what is being offered. Therefore we’re hoping to address that with the minimum standards so that these establishments can be licensed to operate and maintain consistency within the industry,” said Xavier.    

Meantime the Ministry of Tourism is moving ahead with an OAS-sponsored initiative, whereby volunteers from the Canadian Executive Services Overseas will assist small properties in the area of technology training. The volunteers, who will stay at the small hotels for up to three weeks, will assist owners and operators in improving their technological capacities and general operations.

Already more than ten properties have benefited from this initiative.

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