Madam Speaker, I am informed by the NLTA that an island wide survey was carried out in 2022 in hotels in order to assess the adequacy of existing taxi licence services where licences have been already granted and also the need for taxis at hotels where licences have not yet been granted. According to that survey, 1079 taxis have been licensed to operate from 67 hotels while 23 hotels do not have taxis specifically licensed thereat. Madam Speaker, I am given to understand that some of these hotels opted not to have taxis licensed for their hotels on the premises of limited space near their compounds to accommodate taxis or allegedly as they perceive that there was a lack of need for taxi services. Taxi drivers were therefore deprived of a source of income.

42 In spite of that perception, it would appear that these hotels are availing, on the other hand, of alternative mode of transport means such as contract cars, contract buses and outside based taxis to meet the daily needs of their clients for transfer services and excursions. Transport is an important support service to the tourist industry, and no hotel management can possibly claim that there is no need for taxis at their hotel space. The underlying reason for not showing interest in having taxi license for their hotels is an easy guess. All-inclusive packages are an important aspect of marketing strategy in the tourism sector. Destination management companies and inbound tourist operators resort to that strategy and transfers as well as excursions are included as part of their holiday package offers. It is, therefore, perceived that taxis do no fit in those formulas, thereby leading to some sort of vertical integration of the system that many stakeholders have been complaining about over many years. I have spoken to my colleague, the hon. Minister of Tourism, hon. Richard Duval, and he told me that he will into the matter. Madam Speaker, the number of tourists visiting our island is on the rise. Over one million tourists’ arrival have been recorded between January and September this year, and the tourist peak period is yet to come. Against this backdrop, my Ministry has requested the NLTA to carry out a fresh survey of the 23 hotels sites I referred to earlier for the purpose of determining the need to issue taxi licenses at these hotels. The NLTA has also been instructed in case where lack of space on hotel premises is put forward as an argument for not having specifically licensed taxis to consider the availability of alternative sites outside the hotels concerned for use as taxi stand is already common at many hotels. Thank you.

Thank you, hon. Minister. Next question to Dr. Ms Thannoo, the Second Member for Quartier Militaire and Moka! CONSTITUENCY NO. 8 – ENHANCING WATER SUPPLY