Legal Documents of Gatlinburg

For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

1. "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, social club, fraternal organization, joint stock company, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver, trustee, syndicate, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.
2. "Hotel" means any structure, or any portion of any structure, which is occupied or intended or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes, and includes any hotel, inn, tourist court, tourist camp, tourist cabin, motel or any place in which rooms, lodgings or accommodations are furnished to transients for a consideration, the definition shall also include the rental of time-share units or interval ownership units for consideration.
3. "Occupancy" means the use or possession, or the right to the use or possession, of any room, lodgings or accommodations in any hotel.
4. "Transient" means any person who exercises occupancy or is entitled to occupancy of any rooms, lodgings, or accommodations in a hotel for a period of less than ninety (90) continuing days.
5. "Consideration" means the consideration charged whether or not received, for the occupancy of a hotel valued in money whether received in money, goods, labor or otherwise, including all receipts, cash, credits, property and services of any kind or nature without any deduction therefrom whatsoever. Nothing in this definition shall be construed to imply that consideration is charged when the space provided to the person is complimentary from the operator and no consideration is charged to or received from any person.
6. "Operator" means the person operating the hotel whether as owner, lessee or otherwise.
7. "Tourism" means the planning and conducting of programs of information and publicity designed to attract to the municipality tourists, visitors and other interested persons from outside the area and also encouraging and coordinating the efforts of other public and private organization or groups of citizens to publicize the facilities and attractions of the area for the same purposes. It also means the acquisition, construction, and remodeling of facilities useful in the attraction and promoting of tourist, conventions, and recreational business. (1976 Code, § 6-701)