Derecho del Turismo en las Américas

422 DERECHO DEL TURISMO EN LAS AMÉRICAS four (4) rooms or more to undergo regular inspections and to be licensed annually as hotels by the Hotel Licensing Board. Prior to the 1970 Hotels Act, the hotel sector operated without regulation or control. Due to that, there were challenges ascertaining the country’s room stock and securing hotel rates to promote the properties. Most significantly, with the continuing increase in room stock, especially small, locally owned investments, it was difficult to ascertain or ensure that properties met acceptable standards of safety, hygiene and comfort. This Act has allowed a more accurate room stock count and facilitated an improvement to or adherence to standards as required. By 2018, over 17,000 rooms in 310 hotels were licensed across the islands of The Bahamas.Table 6 provides the room count of licensed properties since the passing of the Act in 1970. T able 6 Room Count of Licensed Hotels in The Bahamas 1971-2018 with Licensed Hotel Count 2005-2018 Year Room count Year Room count Number of hotels 1969 9,503 1990 13,475 1970 9,587 1995 13,421 Licensed: 2000 14,701 1971 10,847 2005 14,800 291 1975 11,395 2010 15,236 280 1980 11,429 2015 14,727 304 1985 13,166 2018 17,618 310 1995 Cruise Ships (Overnighting Incentives) Acts The final act that has shaped the development of tourism in The Bahamas is the Cruise Ships (Overnighting Incentives) Act. As noted, in the early development of tourism in The Bahamas, travel by ship to the country has always been a key factor. As cruise travel grew, The Bahamas was able to capitalize on its proximity to the US and benefit from the expansion of this market. In fact, cruise companies repositioned ships from other parts of the world to North America to take advantage of the trend for shorter and more frequent vacations.