The Government of Saint Lucia through the Department of Tourism, has been tasked with Tourism Investment Services as one of the Department’s functions under the Tourism Development Act No. 1 of 2024.
Tourism Investment was designed to focus on industry-wide support to develop tourism products and services by providing tax relief to investors who are Certified to conduct business as a tourism operator.
Tourism investment services recognize tourism as an export service and is also aimed at facilitating investments to ensure compliance with minimum standards, for not only health and safety, but also for quality, crisis resilience, special support areas, environment and climate responsiveness.
The prioritization of Tourism Investment Services is reflected in tourism policy and legislation, which sets out to build an inclusive, resilient and sustainable tourism sector and to increase the global competitiveness of Saint Lucia’s destination products, services and experiences. As such, tourism operators, once certified to operate can access incentives to develop their products in compliance with the local laws, to enhance their livelihoods, pursue entrepreneurship, create linkages and raise the competitiveness of the destination.
In conformance with tourism policy and specifically in providing a climate of tourism investment, the Department of Tourism created a Tourism Investment Services Unit and now seeks to contract a qualified and experienced individual to provide monitoring and compliance services to beneficiaries of tourism incentives.
The Tourism Investment Services Unit will facilitate the work involved in developing a tourism investment climate to provide tax and non-tax relief to certified tourism operators to expand, upgrade, renovate and develop tourism businesses – products and services according to the standards outlined in the certification schemes under the Department of Tourism. It will also facilitate the administrative process involved in the processing of incentives and monitoring compliance of beneficiaries to the conditions of concessionaire agreements issued by the Tourism Investment Committee, the Minister of Tourism and the Cabinet of Ministers.
THE ROLE:
The Monitoring and Compliance Officer assists in the review of technical drawings submitted in support of incentive requests, approves Bills of Quantities and Customs Entries for approved tourism products, projects and developments based on project documents and approval by with the Tourism Investment Committee, the Minister for Tourism and the Cabinet
of Ministers.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
University Degree in Quantity Surveying, Architectural or Construction Management with no previous experience; OR
Diploma from C.A.S.T., University of Technology in Quantity Surveying, Architectural or construction Management with at least six (6) years of relevant experience; OR
Diploma from SALCC in Construction Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Architectural Technology, Architectural or Construction Management or related area with at least nine (9) years of relevant experience. OR
Minimum ten to fifteen (10-15) years professional experience in Brokerage Services, Customs Auditing and Processing of Customs Entries
REPORTING:
The Monitoring and Compliance Officer works under the general supervision of the Director of Investment Services.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:
(i) Support the facilitation of tourism investment processes according to legislation;
(i) Enter the premises of a tourism operator/establishment to conduct inspections;
(ii) Review the technical aspects of tourism projects for tourism incentives and conduct site visits to prepare assessment reports on projects; (iii) Conduct technical analysis and review costing of development plans for projects submitted for tourism incentives;
(iv) Review and approve Bills of Quantities and Customs Entries for approved tourism projects in accordance with Tourism Investment Committee Approvals and Cabinet Conclusions, in consultation with the Customs and Excise Department and where necessary recommend amendments;
(v) Make regular inspections and review projects at various stages of completion to ensure compliance at every stage of the project and report on implementation rate;
(vi) Conduct investigations of a tourism establishment, product or service in respect to complaints of alleged reports and violations from visitors (local and foreign) and other parties;
(vii)Issue notices to tourism operators;
(viii) Plan, organize and direct activities concerned with the effective monitoring of projects and report progress based on required intervals (daily, weekly, fortnightly and monthly) by way of written reports, videos and photographs;
(ix) Liaise and co-ordinate with other units within the Department to ensure compliance with standards, quality assurance and information, research data requirements;
(x) Liaise and co-ordinate with relevant agencies in carrying out the Department’s work programme. Provide support to Tourism Officers in the execution of the work programme;
(xi) Support the preparation of follow up correspondence to tourism operators regarding issues observed and the recommendations and/or corrective actions regarding tourism incentives management and compliance with concessionaire agreements;
(xii) Conduct spot checks to tourism establishments to determine compliance with Orders and Statutory Instruments; and
(xiii)Facilitate stakeholder sign-on and application for tourism incentives.
For consideration, qualified applicants should submit their resume to mintourismslu@govt.lc
Applications should be submitted no later than April 26, 2024. Only suitably qualified applications will be acknowledged.