By Henry Adderley For hoteliers, no news is good news as far as the Progressive Labour Party's first Budget goes, says Pompano Beach Club general manager Lawrence Lamb.

"There are no real changes in the Budget,'' he said. "But having things stay the same is not a bad thing.'' Mr. Lamb was speaking after he was contacted by The Royal Gazette looking for reaction to the new Government's first-ever Budget.

With a number of hoteliers off the Island this week, comments were few and far between.

But Mr. Lamb praised the PLP for the support it was giving tourism.

"It appears this Government is trying to get behind the tourism product and that's good. I am certainly 100 percent behind whatever they try to do.'' While he had not gone through the Budget's particulars, he continued, he was pleased to see that the Tourism Department received more money this year than in past years.

He was joined by Harmony Club president William Griffiths who said this was the main Budget item which would affect the hotel industry.

"This is very positive and was very needed,'' stressed Mr. Griffiths. "The Budget was quite stable -- there were no major changes or increases -- and I see this as an attempt to ensure that the industry gets back on its feet.'' Mr. Lamb also applauded the decision to maintain zero duty rates for hotel renovation project supplies.

"We were hopeful for this,'' he said.

Mr. Lamb admitted that hoteliers were hopeful of receiving other breaks also and had been disappointed that their requests were not met.

"We were hopeful that we would have received breaks on items like fuel but we didn't.'' Finance Minister Eugene Cox did say during his Budget statement on February 19 that he was prepared to meet with hoteliers when he took the Island's tax structure under consideration as promised in the PLP's election platform.

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