35 Accra Hotels Shutdown

The Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) has closed down 35 hotels in the Accra metropolis. Out of this number, 15 had never been registered while 20 others which had been registered had not renewed their licences as required by law. The move formed part of a nationwide exercise to streamline activities in the hospitality industry. The deputy executive director of the GTB, Mr. Edwin Owusu-Mensah, briefing the press after the exercise said ?the failure to register and renew a licence after two months constitute an offence.?

He said the board had to ensure that all tourism establishments met set standards as required by Legislative Instrument 1205 and 1293 that regulated their operations. When asked why the unregistered and un-recommended hotels were operating, the chief research officer, Mr. Martin Kojo Twum, who led the team, said ?as much as their operations were illegal, they have been in business because some customers had been patronizing them at their own risk. Mr. Twum said the general public and especially tourism had been advised to patronise the services of only registered establishments.

He said that all registered and licensed tourist establishments were published in their brochure, which was displayed at their offices and points of entry to the country for public consumption. According to Mr. Twum, all tourist establishments were to renew their operating licence annually. He said that, ?the renewal was necessary to ensure that the establishments met international standards as ascribed to them. Mr. Twum said the tourism board would continue to flush out illegal establishments until total sanity prevailed in the industry.