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BILL NO. 101 - Tourist Accommodations Registration Act

 

Tourist Accommodations Registration Act

The management of Welshtown Haven Inc., are not legal experts nor do we wish to project ourselves as such. If anything that follows interests you, please seek professional legal advice. Our opinion may not reflect the intent of the act or the intentions of the Nova Scotia Government. What is written below is observation on our part only.

In 2019, the province of Nova Scotia passed some legislation regarding Tourist Accommodations. In short, they are defining some responsibilities. We've provided the link above and we'll talk about some of it below.



Now, lets look at the timing of this new act. It received Royal Assent on April 12, 2019. This means that anyone falling into the business construct of Short Term Accommodation (as defined by the act) are now falling under these laws.

In Nova Scotia, the tourism season starts in April 1st, with a new "Fixed Roof Accommodation" license payed for by the provider around this date. It has traditionally been a fee payed and a nice official document mailed out to the Property Manager. This document is to be displayed upon the walls of the establishment. As a Tourist, one should feel comfort in seeing such a document prominently displayed knowing that the place you have obtained refuge in is approved of by the Province. 

Yes, obtaining "Fixed Roof Accommodation" is a bit more then sending in the cash. A HUGE list of things have to be facilitated by the provider of this dwelling. Welshtown Haven has jumped these hurdles and more.

To make the Doers and Dreamers Guide, you have to be certified by one of a number of 3rd party organizations that use the requirements found within the "Fixed Roof Accommodations" guidelines but are more restrictive. To be honest, Welshtown Haven persistently has problems with Landscaping! Our outside view is not the best, curb appeal is low. We are not hiding it. We've tried and every attempt has been undermined by the local Deer!

Now, the Doers and Dreamers Guide is kinda nice! By keeping our establishment up to a specific level of quality, our establishment is on the web page and also found within the printed guide. The cut off for making the printed "Doers and Dreamers" Guide is late October.

So, other then bragging about our compliance to the Fixed Roof Accommodations Act and making Nova Scotia's Tourism Guide..... What's up?

3rd Party Booking sites will be working with local governments. With Nova Scotia having a defined set of legislation (as of April 2019) the 3rd Party Booking sites will now comply with the Nova Scotia Government requests for information on who is offering accommodations. Air BNB, Trip Advisor and other sites will be assisting the Nova Scotia Government on compliance issues.

COVID-19 has kinda thrown things off a bit and 2020 Tourism not what was expected. This year, Accommodation providers only had to register, identifying how many room / cottages they were providing. The fees were waved! Well, it was a bit of a shocker! More recently, the Tourism Department reached out to us to confirm we'd registered our accommodation and that our intention was to continue providing Short Term Accommodations for the 2021 Tourism Season.

As a business, over the last couple years, the bulk of our "Revenue" has been derived through long term rentals. A long term rental is something extending longer then 28 days. The issue is, is Welshtown Haven still interested in jumping through all the hurdles for what has equated to limited revenue? Our goal is to be able to provide "Short Term"; as well as, "Long Term" rentals, optimizing our revenues.

Our current "Construction Crew" looks to be leaving us after staying for over a year. Our short term goals are to review our property making sure our accommodations surpass the requirements of qualification for the Doers and Dreamers acceptance, then put it up for short term rentals again. More on this in the next few weeks.

As for all of the other providers of "Short Term Accommodations" who had listed on 3rd Party Sites; however, did not obtain the "Fixed Roof Accommodations" registration, good luck to you. It will be interesting seeing how many compliance issues the Nova Scotia Government identify. Those not complying have had a year of grace to get on board with the new program. Being a provider of Fixed Roof Accommodation in accordance to the laws set for us is a comfortable position for us to be in for now.

 Welshtown Haven is an All Season,
Weekly Rental Vacation House,
located in South Shore Nova Scotia.
Minutes away from the
Historic Town of Shelburne.

10189 Upper Clyde Rd
Shelburne, NS
Canada

B0T 1W0. 

Property Manager: Phone: (902) 982-2346

Contact Management:E-Mail: Admin@WelshtownHaven.ca

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