Post by Logan on Jan 21, 2016 3:44:53 GMT -6
The government of Guam is losing a significant amount in potential revenue due to the proliferation of fly-by-night tourism ventures that engage in shadow operations and jeopardize the visitor industry, a hotel owner said yesterday.
Bart Jackson, owner of Hotel Santa Fe Guam, said budget hotels on Guam are forced to lower their room rates lest they completely lose business to underground bed-and-and-breakfast facilities that cater mostly to Korean tourists.
A Google search for “Guam budget accommodations” retrieved several pages of entries for guesthouses offering rooms at rates between $50 and $60 a night, but Jackson said a check with the Department of Revenue and Taxation revealed there were only 12 to 15 registered bed-and-breakfast facilities on Guam.
“It means there is a large number of guesthouses that are unregistered and unlicensed. It basically means no hotel occupancy tax, no GRT, no Department of Health inspections,” Jackson said at the Council of Economic Advisors meeting at the Governor's Complex at Adelup.
Continued at www.postguam.com/local/news/43884-shadow-tourism-hurts-business.html .
Bart Jackson, owner of Hotel Santa Fe Guam, said budget hotels on Guam are forced to lower their room rates lest they completely lose business to underground bed-and-and-breakfast facilities that cater mostly to Korean tourists.
A Google search for “Guam budget accommodations” retrieved several pages of entries for guesthouses offering rooms at rates between $50 and $60 a night, but Jackson said a check with the Department of Revenue and Taxation revealed there were only 12 to 15 registered bed-and-breakfast facilities on Guam.
“It means there is a large number of guesthouses that are unregistered and unlicensed. It basically means no hotel occupancy tax, no GRT, no Department of Health inspections,” Jackson said at the Council of Economic Advisors meeting at the Governor's Complex at Adelup.
Continued at www.postguam.com/local/news/43884-shadow-tourism-hurts-business.html .