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POLICIES & PROFILE
Click
here for OAA's Submission to the Ontario Tourism
Competitiveness Study.
GOVERNMENT ACTION:
POSITION STATEMENTS: Ontario
Accommodation Association
Room Levy On Accommodation

The OAA supports the policy position of the Tourism Federation of Ontario: "If any
funds are collected as a Destination Marketing Fee, Hotel Levy, or any similar
undertaking, then those funds must be solely dedicated to Tourism
Marketing."

The
OAA strongly objects to the notion that municipalities gain the right to institute
a tax on hotel rooms, with the funds raised going to municipalities coffers,
to be spent as they see fit.
Level Playing Field For All Accommodation Operators

All
accommodation businesses renting to the travelling public should be taxed and
regulated and inspected the same, including the collection and remission of the
5% PST on rooms.

The
travelling public has a right to expect the same safety and security and cleanliness,
no matter the size or type of accommodation property. This includes fire safety
and health and building code inspections.
Fair Property Taxation

A
new methodology of property tax assessment for motels and hotels is needed. The
current assessment methodology is unfair, because it utilizes the income approach.
It makes property tax similar to income tax, meaning that a well-run business
pays higher taxes just because it has higher income. This unfairly penalizes
successful operators. It is also a major paperwork headache, since owners must
submit detailed financial statements every year.

The
income approach must be replaced with a fairer, more realistic calculation, reflecting
the realities of operating an accommodation business and suitable for all property
sizes.
Access To Capital

The
federal and provincial governments must pressure our financial institutions to
provide greater access to equity and debt capital for the accommodation industry,
for remortgaging, renovations/expansions, and new construction.

Current
loan requirements for accommodation operators are very difficult to meet. Financial
institutions also have a limited quota for tourism businesses. Once that quota
is reached, no matter how viable the business, loan funds are not available,
even for remortgaging long-standing customers that have never missed a payment.

Easier
access to capital for Tourism projects, as occurs in other countries, would greatly
encourage the growth of Canada's tourism industry.
Small Waterworks Regulations

Ontario
innkeepers are committed to providing safe, clean drinking water to their guests.
Innkeepers receive regular visits from public health inspectors.
After
over four years of continous government action efforts, OAA helped achieve realistic
affordable small waterworks regulations in June 2005 (Ontario Regulation 252).
We continue to monitor the trasferral of these regulations to Public Health Units,
which will assume
responsibility for small waterworks in Fall 2006.
Labour Legislation

We
supported the Ontario government's introduction of a new Employment Standards
Act, containing revised and realistic regulations applicable to the needs of
employees and employers in our tourism industry. (Success: New Act came into
effect September 4, 2001.) However, since then, the Act has been modified under
the McGuinty government.
Gasoline Prices And Road Conditions

The
Ontario and federal governments must reduce the taxes they place on automotive
fuel, thereby lowering the price of fuel. This will encourage more car touring
vacations, and alleviate a major complaint from American tourists reacting to
how expensive our gasoline is, compared to theirs.

The
funds raised by federal and provincial taxes on automotive fuel must be almost
entirely spent on road infrastructure improvements: the repair and upgrading
of existing roads, and the construction of new roads. Of the $4 billion in fuel
taxes/license fees collected by the Ontario government each year, only $1.5 billion
is spent on roads and other activities of the Ministry of Transportation. The
federal government collects almost the same in fuel taxes, and invests almost
nothing on roads.
New Ontario Fire Code

Accommodation
operators are dedicated to providing a safe environment for their guests. Fire
safety is an ongoing priority. Accommodation operators receive regular visits
from fire safety inspection officials.

New
regulations being considered for accommodation properties under the Ontario Fire
Code must be realistic and affordable for all types and sizes of properties.
This is particularly true for small and medium-sized properties, including those
in older buildings and "heritage" buildings.

Operators
facing a significant expenditure in order comply with new fire safety regulations,
must have access to funds from the government in order to bring their properties
into compliance. It is extremely difficult to access capital from financial institutions.
Canada Select Accommodation Rating Program

Through
its membership and active participation in the Accommodation Industry Alliance
for Ontario (AIAO), the OAA is committed to the endorsement and promotion of
the Canada Select Accommodation Rating Program (CSARP) in Ontario. Although participation
in the program is voluntary, the OAA encourages its members to be inspected and
rated under CSARP.

THe
OAA urges the Ontario Government to officially endorse CSARP as Ontario's preferred
rating program.
The
OAA urges the National Board of Canada Select to address the pressing requirement
for national consumer marketing for CSARP.
Tourism Marketing For Ontario

The
Ontario government must maintain current levels of funding for tourism marketing
in Ontario. Ideally, those levels should increase, each year. It is a documented
fact that for every dollar invested by government in tourism marketing, the government
gets back $3 - 4 dollars in increased taxation revenue.

Increased
tourism marketing benefits the entire tourism industry, especially small and
medium-sized operations that do not have the financial resources to participate
in dollar-matching marketing programs.

The
OAA applauds the greatly-increased marketing efforts of the Ontario and federal
governments, through the infusion of new marketing dollars, to help our industry
recover from the severe downturns that occured in 2001 and 2003, from which our
industry is still recovering.
Tourism Highway Signage

The
OAA supports the TODS and LOGO tourism signage programs. These programs enhance
tourist and business travel in our province.

Small
accommodation businesses (60 units and under) should have the same right of being
listed on TODS signage on 400-series highways, as do attractions and destination
resorts. This is because small tourism businesses cannot afford the expensive
annual fee under the LOGO signage program.
Disabled Access

We
support the new Accessibility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act, 2004, with
its aim of increasing accessibility, opportunity, and independence of people
with disabilities.

Accommodating
guests with disabilities is a growing market segment of Ontario's tourism industry.
Independent tourism operators are willing to accommodate guests with disabilities.

Compliance
with the Accessbility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act will be challenging
for many Ontario innkeepers. Government must make funds available so operators
can finance the necessary retrofits to their property. This is especially important
for small and medium-sized tourism businesses. Loans from financial institutions
are hard to obtain for tourism operations.
Fair Exchange

All
members of the OAA have a commitment to offer fair exchange on U.S. currency.
This is part of the OAA Code of Ethics.

The
Ontario and Canadian governments should regularly encourage all tourism operators
to offer fair exchange on U.S. currency.
Last Updated: October, 2005.
Ontario Accommodation Association
Profile

Who We Are:Founded in 1949, the Ontario Accommodation Association
(OAA) is the incorporated non-profit trade association serving Ontario's
independent accommodation industry. Although the majority of our
members are motels, our members also include hotels, resorts, country
inns, cottages, bed & breakfasts, and outfitter lodges. With over
1000 members province-wide, the OAA currently represents 70% of the
motel industry. Ontario's largest association specializing in accommodation
operators, the OAA has more properties in membership, by far, than
any other. Most members are small to medium-sized independent businesses,
often family-owned and operated. By choice, the OAA receives no government
funding whatsoever, in order to freely represent our members' interests
to government. The association offers 40 benefits and services to
its members, including representing them to government. We also have
members in these categories: Allied Members (suppliers to the industry),
Educational Allied Members (colleges and universities), Retail Allied
Members (gift shops), and Associate Members (retired operators).

Mission Statement: The Ontario Accommodation Association exists
to add value to our members' growth, profitability, and competitive
advantage.

What We Do: Our main purpose is to provide money-saving benefits
and services to our members, thereby lowering their operating costs.
Foremost among these are our new Global Payments VISA 1.70% and MasterCard
1.79% merchant credit card rates. Another key benefit is our Group
Property / Casualty Insurance Program, the longest-running (24 years)
and most stable program of its type. We offer savings on 0+ & credit
card calls and long-distance through Canopco and Sprint Canada, and
25% discount to join Alliance Purchasing Services. Other services
include a quarterly magazine (The ACCOMMODATOR) and five-times-yearly
newsletter (NEWSLINE), Special Bulletins and E-mail Alerts, annual SAX
trade show (the largest accommodation show in Ontario), annual
Buyers' Guide, Traveller’s Companion membership directory distributed
to tourists, unique Accommodation Operator’s Reference Book, and
many others. We market our members on the Internet at no extra charge;
the largest listing of Ontario accommodation on the Web.

Leadership: We were instrumental in founding the industry-wide Tourism
Federation of Ontario in January 1996, and have administered
it on a volunteer basis since then.
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