WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/CSS/W/31
18 December 2000
(00-5572)
Council for Trade in Services
Special SessionOriginal:  English
COMMUNICATION FROM THE UNITED STATES
Tourism And Hotels
The attached communication has been received from the delegation of the United States with
the request that it be circulated to Members of the Council for Trade in Services.
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I. INTRODUCTION
1. At the April meeting of the Council on Trade in Services, the United States made an oral
presentation, welcoming the proposal by the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Honduras onTourism and expressing its initial reaction to the proposal.  As part of that statement, the United States
indicated that it was considering building on that proposal for a portion of the sector, such as hotels
and lodging.  This paper presents a proposal to stimulate discussion and help liberalize this important
sub-sector of tourism.
II. PURPOSE
2. Modern hotels are indispensable to attracting  further waves of investment for tourist and
business destinations around the world.  A typical hotel resort development requires large investmentsin feasibility work, real estate, and financial arrangements, followed by very large expenditures of
capital to construct and finally operate the facility.
3. The purpose of this paper is to focus on ways to help generate investment for tourism by
removing obstacles to the establishment and operation of hotels and other lodging places; by making
it easier for travellers to visit and make purchases in other countries; and by reducing the problemsfaced by organizers of international conferences and conventions.
4. At the same time, the United States recognizes the importance of sustainable development as
a goal and the role that governments may wish to  play in achieving it.  The U.S. proposal for
liberalization of hotels is consistent with this recognition.
III. PROPOSAL
5. This paper proposes that WTO Members that have not yet made commitments on hotels
formulate their commitments based on the list of obstacles identified below.  Members are invited to
consider inscribing in their schedules “no limitations” on market access and national treatment, as
some Members, including the United States, already have done.  Further, to promote expansion ofS/CSS/W/31
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international tourism, the paper proposes that all Members consider undertaking additional
commitments relating to travellers and international conferences.
6. This proposal is not presented as a legal text, but rather as a list of obstacles identified in
reviewing this service sector.  Some items on the list may be market access restrictions, or national
treatment limitations, or both.  In addition, some obstacles, although not limitations on market accessor national treatment per se , may result from regulatory provisions which make it difficult for foreign
suppliers to market their services.  Finally, we note that governments may wish to take account of
sustainable development and environmental goals as they define their approach to addressing certain
of these obstacles.
Obstacles in this sector
• Overly burdensome exit fees or taxes, or similar restrictions on the departure of outbound
travellers
• Unavailability of information for travellers on applicable duty-free allowances for returning
residents on specified merchandise purchased abroad for personal or household uses
• Limitations on the participation of foreign capital in terms of maximum percentage limit on
foreign shareholding or the total value of individual or aggregate foreign investment
• Measures that restrict or require specific types of corporate, partnership, or other business
organization structure
• Limitations on the purchase or rental of real estate for this sector
• Economic needs test on suppliers of hotel and lodging services
• Suppliers of hotel and lodging services are not permitted to enter into and exit from joint
ventures with local or non-local, private or government partners
• Measures requiring the use of local partner to establish in the market
• Where government approval is required, exceptionally long delays are encountered and, when
approval is denied, no reasons are given for the denial and no information is given on what
must be done to obtain approval in the future
• Lack of national treatment for financing arrangements for construction and operation of hotels
and lodging places.
• Denial of access to and use of public services on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms and
conditions
• Denial of access to government programs available to domestic service providers
• Tax treatment that discriminates against foreign service providers
• Discrimination against foreign service suppliers with respect to choice of business
organizations available to domestic suppliers
• Discrimination against foreign partners in a joint ventureS/CSS/W/31
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• Discrimination against franchises as opposed to other forms of business organization
• Discrimination against foreign franchises
• Lack of readily available information on zoning and lack of an opportunity for service
suppliers to meet with local officials and community representatives to discuss location offacilities
• Lack of transparency of domestic laws and regulations and fairness of administration
• Denial of full consumer access to electronic means for making hotel reservations
• Denial of freedom for service providers to select sources of supply of services
• Denial of freedom for service providers to offer incentives, rewards, and other promotional
programs
• Minimum requirements for local hiring that are disproportionately high, causing uneconomic
operations
• Lack of means to facilitate temporary entry and exit of specialized, skilled personnel
(including managers)
• Restrictions or excessive fees/taxes on international currency transactions
• Lack of means to facilitate temporary entry and exit of event organizers and specialized,
skilled personnel (including managers) needed to conduct international conferences andconventions efficiently
• Restrictions or excessive fees/taxes on licensing or royalty payments
• Lack of means to facilitate temporary entry and exit of conference and convention
participants from various countries
• Information on provisions for temporary entry and exit of equipment, supplies, and other
materials are not made readily available to organizers of prospective international conferences
and conventions
PROPOSED REFERENCE PAPER
7. A reference paper would be drafted to address problems faced by travellers and organizers of
international conferences and conventions to make it easier for travellers to visit and make purchases
in other countries; and to reduce the problems faced by organizers of international conferences and
conventions.  Some of the problems are identified in the list of obstacles above.
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