P.E.I. government's move to take over tourism inspections 'regressive,' says former official
‘It just seemed to be taking a step backwards,’ says Ron MacNeill
One of the people who helped establish Quality Tourism Services — the non-profit that has inspected tourism accommodations on P.E.I. for more than 30 years — is questioning the province's decision to shut it down.
QTS is preparing to close after the P.E.I. government informed the non-profit this spring that it was cancelling its contract and provincial workers would be taking over the inspections.
That decision came as a surprise to Ron MacNeill, who served as director of tourism development with Tourism P.E.I. for more than two decades.
He helped develop the idea of an independent non-profit that would inspect tourism accommodations, and is now concerned that returning the responsibility to government could reintroduce problems the system had before.
"It just seemed to be taking a step backwards. When government was operating the service — and I was directly involved with it — it was very inconsistent," MacNeill told CBC's Island Morning on Monday.
"It wasn't very professional. Inspectors were hired on a seasonal basis to inspect thousands of rooms, which they struggled to do. If the government changed, unfortunately, some of the inspectors changed, and that created problems and issues."
Tourism Minister Zack Bell told CBC News last week that the province is trying to "professionalize the industry," and said that staff are telling him the transition has been seamless so far.
Group does more than just inspections
MacNeill said the Island's tourism operators decided to come together to demand a more consistent and professional level of inspection, leading to the creation of QTS.
It was established in partnership with the Tourism Industry Association of P.E.I. as an independent operation.
The non-profit conducts more than 2,000 inspections a year, from small cottages to major hotel chains. Its services cost the province nothing because the organization is funded through licensing fees paid by operators.
Unlike the previous system, where government inspectors were hired seasonally, QTS has full-time staff who could conduct inspections year-round and carry out additional responsibilities, MacNeill said.
"They created a rapport between the inspectors... and the operators. So, the inspectors could counsel operators as to how to do a better delivery job, how to make sure their accommodations are up to standards, and they could do training of operators," he said.
"They could do all kinds of things that government inspectors just didn't have the time to do."
QTS's last inspections will be June 30. It will continue to do star ratings through the summer, and will close its doors Sept. 30.
The move will put 10 people at its Central Bedeque office out of work.
A spokesperson for the province has told CBC News there are plans to hire seven inspectors. Two will be year-round and five will be seasonal. Some of those positions have already been filled.
'A regressive step'
MacNeill said a key benefit of having an industry-led, non-partisan inspection system was that it removed political influence.
"When the government was operating it, if an operator was dissatisfied or unhappy or didn't like the outcome, they would lobby the government, and MLAs and ministers," he said.
Meanwhile, he said QTS operates with a culture of high standards and peer accountability.
"The board of directors was largely made up of good tourist operators, and they helped the poor ones, the struggling operators, in terms of how to make their business and bring it up to standard."
As the Island's tourism industry continues to grow, MacNeill said he is wondering how government will manage the increasing demand for inspections.
"It just seems to be… government taking on a big responsibility that industry led and industry delivered on for a long, long time," he said. "It just seems to be a regressive step, going back to a system that was very difficult to operate."
With files from Island Morning