Government admitted it needed to amend a ?landmark? piece of Tourism law tabled by the late Tourism Minister David Allen because it did not work.

In the House of Assembly on Friday night, Tourism and Transport Minister Ewart Brown said it had been five years since Mr. Allen tabled the Hotels Concession Act 2000.

?Since 2000 a number of properties availed themselves of the benefits of this Act,? Dr. Brown said. ?There was slow but steady progress. Some of the Island?s product has begun to improve. However, after practice and consultation it was seen as an unduly cumbersome framework.?

He said the main effect of the bill was to provide a full exemption for a hotel developer from paying the developer?s portion of payroll tax which would otherwise be payable.

It also removed the power to grant a concession for the sale of alcohol at hotels because it was very difficult to implement, he said. The amended bill would be more flexible, he said, in order to allow the Minister to respond to changes in the industry.

?The Ministry cannot afford to be hamstrung by traditional bureaucracy,? Dr. Brown said. It also gives the Minister sole discretion to define what constitutes ?substantial redevelopment? at a hotel.

Shadow Minister of Race Relations and Economic Opportunity David Dodwell was glad Government acknowledged the 2000 Act did not work.

He recalled telling Government in 2000 that there were a number of flaws in the Act.

?It was badly drafted,? he said. ?It did not work. The hotels feel duped.?

He said hotels had carried out work expecting to be granted concessions that never came.

Flexibility was needed because should hotels change anything in their planned development, the concession would be dropped and they would have to start again from scratch, he said.

A duty waiver on hotel alcohol never worked because the Customs Department were never notified, he said and he encouraged Dr. Brown to consult with them because it would help local entertainment.

?We need entertainment at night if there is one person or 100 people in the bar,? he said.

Government backbencher Glenn Blakeney said hotels could do more to promote entertainment in Bermuda.

Opposition leader Grant Gibbons said Mr. Allen had over-bureaucratised Tourism.

?It is a mess,? Dr. Gibbons said. ?There have been a lot of promises and hype but no delivery.?

Dr. Brown said in 2000 hotels did not trust a new Government, however, over time the relationship had improved.

?We are not forcing the hotels to have entertainment. We are coaxing and encouraging them and they will end up with entertainment,? he said. ?They will find the concessions process will be faster.?

In committee Dr. Brown told Dr. Gibbons that the Minister of Finance was part of getting a concession, however, the names of hotels to get them would not be made public.

The bill was passed and will go to the Senate.