Derecho del Turismo en las Américas

Tourism Legislation in The Bahamas 425 (1) the pre‑1950 or early period, that revealed the potential the country had for tourism and the opening foundations upon which tourism development could be built; (2) the decade of the 1950s, in which governmental decision was made to develop tourism and actions that were taken accordingly to spur on this development; and (3) the period since the 1960s, during which time the country achieved internal self‑government and subsequently gained full independence. This chapter also commented on possible future legislation that may be needed as the country continue to progress on its tourism development path. A Janus view of tourism development in The Bahamas was, therefore, taken and a total of ten (10) critical pieces of legislation that contributed to the success of tourism development in The Bahamas were identified (identified in Table 7). T able 7 Critical Tourism Legislation in Bahamas’ Tourism Development # Year Critical Tourism Legislation 1 1851 Tourism Encouragement Act 2 1857 Tourism Act 3 1859 Revised Tourism Act 4 1898 Hotel & Steamship Act 5 1913 Manufactories & Hotels Encouragement Act 6 1914 Development Board Act 7 1954 Hotels Encouragement Act 8 1964 Promotion of Tourism Act 9 1970 Hotels Act and Regulations 10 1995 Cruise Ships (Overnighting Incentives) Act While all ten pieces of legislation played a role in some form, a notable milestone was achieved, in 1964, with internal self‑government and with the passing of the Promotion of Tourism Act. With little alternative to spur on development in the country, the decision was made by the 1949 Government Legislature to advance tourism as a developmental option. In 1964, however, with the evolution to the Ministerial form of governance, The Bahamas made a bold move through the Promotion of Tourism Act to establish an institutional