6.On 2 July 2009 the Department launched a 12 week public consultation on proposals for amending the Tourism Order. The consultation exercise was carried out using the Office of First and deputy First Minister Guidance on the issue of consultation documents and was issued to those on the list in that document. In addition, more than 2,000 tourism related individuals and organisations were consulted. Responses received were primarily from Local Authorities and the tourism industry.
7.The proposal to change the frequency of NITB statutory inspections of tourist accommodation from an annual basis to once every four years attracted 18 objections while the proposal to change the mechanism whereby the chairman of NITB is appointed met with unanimous approval.
8.The proposal to transfer responsibility for tourist accommodation grants from Invest NI was not included in the public consultation exercise referred to above. However this proposal was consulted on as part of a six week public consultation on the Independent Review of Economic Policy which commenced on 5 October 2009.