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Tourist Promotion Board Ordinance

Bill No. 5/1963

Read the first time on 28th November 1963.

An Ordinance to provide for the establishment of the Tourist Promotion Board and of the Tourist Promotion Fund and for matters connected therewith.

Be it enacted by the Yang di-Pertuan Negara with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1.—(1) This Ordinance may be cited as the Tourist Promotion Board Ordinance, 1963, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may by notification in the Gazette appoint.

(2) The Minister may appoint different dates for the coming into operation of the different provisions of this Ordinance.

Interpretation

2. In this Ordinance —

“Board” means the Tourist Promotion Board established under section 3 of this Ordinance;

“financial year” means a period of twelve months beginning on the 1st day of January, except that the period between the establishment of the Board and the 31st day of December 1964, inclusive, shall be deemed to be a financial year;

“tourist hotel” means any premises registered as a hotel under the provisions of the Hotels Ordinance, 1954 (Ord. 24 of 1954), which are declared by the Minister, by notification in the Gazette, to be a tourist hotel;

“tourist enterprise” means any business which provides national or international carriage for passengers; any business which, either wholly or in part, provides or arranges the provision of services for visitors to Singapore, by way of transport, accommodation, tours or guides, whether or not such services are provided within Singapore; any business which, either wholly or in part, retails goods for sale to visitors to Singapore; or any association of such businesses; and includes any exhibition, show, fair, publicity campaign or other undertaking intended wholly or in part for the benefit of, or for the purpose of attracting visitors to Singapore.

Establishment of the Tourist Promotion Board

3.—(1) There shall be established in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance a body to be called the “Tourist Promotion Board”.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal with power, subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, to acquire and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and may sue and be sued in its corporate name and perform such other acts as bodies corporate may by law perform.

Chairman of the Board

4. The Minister shall appoint a Chairman of the Board (hereinafter in this Ordinance referred to as the “Chairman”) who shall, subject to the provisions of this Ordinance, hold office for such period and on such terms as the Minister may determine.

Constitution of the Board

5.—(1) The Board shall consist of —

(a)	the Chairman;
(b)	the Director of the Board appointed under section 7 of this Ordinance;
(c)	a person to be appointed by the Minister on the nomination of the Economic Development Board established by the Economic Development Board Ordinance, 1961 (Ord. 21 of 1961);
(d)	a person to be appointed by the Minister on the nomination of the Committee of the Singapore Tourist Association;
(e)	a public officer to be appointed by the Minister; and
(f)	four other members to be appointed by the Minister to represent tourist enterprises.

(2) The members of the Board appointed by the Minister under the provisions of paragraph (f) of subsection (1) of this section shall, unless their appointment is revoked by the Minister under the provisions of subsection (6) of this section, or unless they resign during their period of office, hold office for a term of three years or for such shorter period as the Minister may in any case determine.

(3) The Minister may appoint a member of the Board to be Deputy Chairman of the Board. The Deputy Chairman may preside at meetings of the Board in the absence of the Chairman.

(4) A member of the Board shall not, in any meeting of the Board, participate in any discussion relating to, and shall not vote in respect of, any contract, business or other matter in which he is interested, and if he shall do so his vote shall not be counted.

(5) The members of the Board shall be paid out of the funds of the Board such salaries, fees or allowances as the Minister may determine.

(6) The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of the Chairman or of any other member of the Board.

Directions by the Minister

6.—(1) The Minister may, after consultation with the Board or otherwise, give to the Board such directions, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, as he may deem fit, as to the exercise and performance by the Board of its powers, duties and functions under this Ordinance, and the Board shall give effect to all such directions.

(2) The Board shall furnish the Minister with such information with respect to its property and activities as he may from time to time require.

Director of the Board

7.—(1) The Board shall, with the approval of the Minister, appoint a Director of the Board who shall perform such duties as the Board may entrust or delegate to him:

Provided that the first Director of the Board shall be appointed by the Minister.

(2) If the Director of the Board is temporarily absent from Singapore or temporarily incapacitated through illness or for any other sufficient reason from the performance of his duties, another person may be appointed in the manner provided by subsection (1) of this section to be the Director of the Board during such temporary absence or other incapacity.

Appointment of officers and servants

8.—(1) The Board may from time to time appoint and employ such officers and servants as may be necessary for the purposes of this Ordinance and may from time to time dismiss them.

(2) All officers and servants of the Board shall be under the administrative control of the Board.

Ineligibility for employment as officers of the Board

9.—(1) No person shall be eligible for employment as an officer or servant of the Board who has, directly or indirectly, by himself or his partner, any share or interest in any contract with, for or on behalf of the Board.

(2) Any officer or servant of the Board who has or acquires any such share or interest shall be liable in the discretion of the Board to summary dismissal without notice.

Payments to the Board

10. For the purpose of enabling the Board to carry out its functions under this Ordinance, the Minister may, from time to time, authorise the payment to the Board of such sums as he may determine.

Imposition of a cess on rooms in tourist hotels

11.—(1) There shall be levied and paid, at the end of each month, in respect of every room or suite occupied each day in every tourist hotel, a cess at the rate set out in the Schedule to this Ordinance.

(2) The Minister may, in such Schedule, classify tourist hotels and specify the rate of cess to be payable in respect of each class of tourist hotels.

(3) The Minister may, from time to time, by order published in the Gazette, add to, vary or revoke the whole or any part of such Schedule.

Power to remit and exempt

12.—(1) The Minister may, if he thinks fit, remit the whole or any part of the cess paid under this Ordinance.

(2) The Minister may, if he thinks fit, and upon such conditions as he may impose, exempt any tourist hotel or class of tourist hotels from any cess payable under this Ordinance.

Establishment and administration of the Tourist Promotion Fund

13.—(1) There shall be established a fund to be called the “Tourist Promotion Fund” (hereinafter in this Ordinance referred to as “the Fund”) which shall be controlled and administered by the Board, subject to the directions of the Minister.

(2) All monies collected under the provisions of section 11 and of paragraph (f) of section 15 of this Ordinance and all monies received by the Board from any source whatsoever shall be paid into the Fund.

(3) Without prejudice to any other remedy, any cess payable under the provisions of section 11 of this Ordinance may be recovered by the Board as a civil debt due to the Board.

Purpose of the Fund

14. The Fund shall be devoted to the following purposes: —

(a)	the payment of the expenses of, or connected with, the administration of the Board; and
(b)	the payment of all expenses necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Ordinance.

Powers of the Board

15. The Board shall have power —

(a)	to act as agent for the Government or, with the approval of the Government, for any person, body or organisation for the transaction of any business connected with any tourist enterprise;
(b)	to engage in, assist or promote the improvement of facilities for visitors to Singapore and the development of Singapore as a holiday resort;
(c)	to secure overseas publicity for the tourist attractions of Singapore;
(d)	to co-ordinate the activities of persons providing services for visitors to Singapore;
(e)	to regulate, with the approval of the Minister, standards to be maintained by tourist enterprises;
(f)	with the approval of the Minister, to license any class or classes of tourist enterprises, to prescribe the conditions under which such licences may be granted and the fees which may be levied therefor, and to collect such fees;
(g)	to acquire, purchase, take on lease, hire, hold and enjoy movable and immovable property of every description and to convey, assign, surrender, and yield up, charge, mortgage, demise, reassign, transfer or otherwise dispose of, or deal with, any movable or immovable property belonging to the Board upon such terms as to the Board seem fit;
(h)	to enter into any contract;
(i)	to receive, in consideration of the services rendered by it, such commission or payment as may be agreed upon;
(j)	to make recommendations to the Government in relation to any measures which may be taken with a view to increasing the number of visitors to Singapore;
(k)	to exercise all functions and powers and perform all duties which, under or by virtue of any other written law, are or may be or become vested or delegated to it; and
(l)	generally to do all such matters and things as may be incidental to or consequential upon the exercise of its powers or the discharge of its duties under this Ordinance.

Accounts of the Board

16.—(1) The Board shall prepare in respect of each financial year a statement of account of the Fund in a form approved by the Minister. Such statement of account shall be audited by a qualified auditor to be appointed in respect of each year by the Minister, and the auditor shall make a report on the accounts examined by him.

(2) The remuneration of the auditor appointed by the Minister under subsection (1) of this section shall be fixed by the Minister and shall be paid out of the Fund.

(3) So soon as the accounts have been audited, the Board shall send to the Minister a copy of the statement of account and the report thereon by the auditor referred to in subsection (1) of this section, and the Minister shall present a copy of every such statement and report to the Legislative Assembly.

Annual report

17. So soon as may be after the 1st day of January in every year but not later than the 31st day of March in every year, unless otherwise expressly authorised in writing by the Minister, the Board shall prepare a report of its activities in the preceding year and shall send a copy of such report to the Minister who shall present a copy of every such report to the Legislative Assembly.

Annual estimates

18. The Board shall obtain in advance the approval of the Minister for its annual estimates of expenditure and for any supplementary estimates of such expenditure.

Protection of the members of the Board

19.—(1) No action, suit, prosecution or other proceedings shall be brought or instituted personally against any member of the Board in respect of any act done bona fide in pursuance or execution or intended execution of this Ordinance.

(2) Where any member of the Board is exempt from liability by reason only of the provisions of this section, the Board shall be liable to the extent that it would be if such member were a servant or agent of the Board.

Regulations

20.—(1) The Board may, with the prior approval of the Minister, make regulations generally for carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, such regulations may provide for —

(a)	the convening of meetings of the Board and the procedure to be followed thereat;
(b)	the appointment or establishment of committees of the members of the Board, and the co-opting of persons other than members of the Board to such committees; and
(c)	the manner in which documents, cheques and instruments of any description shall be signed or executed on behalf of the Board.

(3) Such regulations —

(a)	may prescribe that any act or omission in contravention of the provisions of any regulation shall be an offence;
(b)	may provide for the imposition of penalties for such offences, which penalties shall not exceed a fine of two thousand dollars; and
(c)	in the case of any licence granted under the provisions of paragraph (f) of section 15 of this Ordinance, may provide that in addition to such fine, the penalty may extend to the cancellation or suspension of such licence.

(4) All regulations made under this Ordinance shall be published in the Gazette and shall be presented to the Legislative Assembly as soon as may be after publication and, if a resolution is passed pursuant to a motion notice whereof has been given for a sitting day not later than the first available sitting day of the Assembly next after the expiry of three months from the date when such regulations are so presented annulling the regulations or any part thereof as from a specified date, such regulations or such part thereof, as the case may be, shall thereupon become void as from such date but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder or to the making of new regulations.

Winding up

21. The Board or the Fund shall not be wound up except by or under the authority of an Ordinance.