GTA role out PPP arrangements to reduce hotel rates
THE Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has through Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement commenced the process of helping ease the price of hotel rates across the country.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GTA, Maame Efua Houadjeto, said at a news conference in Accra last Monday that the GTA had engaged some financial institutions to offer soft loans with no interest to accommodation facilities to invest in solar energy.
She explained that, the use of the solar energy would help reduce the expenses incurred by most facilities on the use of electricity; thereby leading to the reduction in hotel fares as part of the broader plan in ensuring sustainable tourism.
Ms Houadjeto lamented the hotel rates charged by hoteliers across the country which was largely caused by increasing utility costs.
“We are also talking to our partners, such as hoteliers to bring down their rates. They can only do that if we support them with the solar energy that I'm talking about. If we're asking a hotel to install solar, the initial expense is quite high and they won't be able to use all their money to do that.
“They need a partner that can help them spread the payments. That is what we are doing. They will pay in bits over two years so that eventually almost all our hotels can have solar energy or alternative energy,” he said.
New departments
The press conference also saw the GTA announce the decoupling of the Public-Private Partnership Department from the Corporate Affairs to help make the two departments more effective in the discharge of their mandate in ensuring sustainable tourism.
The Corporate Affairs will now be headed by Bright Asempa Tsadidey as its Director and Rev. Jones Aruna Nelson as the Director of the PPP Department.
The Director of the new PPP Department at GTA described the introduction of PPP as “a bold step towards harnessing the collective strengths of government and private enterprises to build a thriving tourism industry as stated in the Tourism Act 2011 (Act 817) Section 42”.
Mr Nelson added that under this new framework, the GTA would be intensifying our commitment to key initiatives such as “The Black Star Experience, which showcases Ghana’s rich heritage to the global community, and the Resetting Agenda, which focuses on reimagining our tourism strategies for sustainable impact”.
Facelift
For his part, Mr Tsadidey said his vision as Corporate Affairs Director would be to position “Ghana not just as a leading tourist destination but as a compelling global cultural force”.
He said in the months ahead, his department would intensify public education and awareness to educate the public on the mandate of GTA; strengthen their communication framework, ensuring Ghana's tourism story was told more boldly and strategically, both at home and abroad.
He added that he would ensure building stronger partnerships with the media, stakeholders, and industry players to elevate Brand Ghana as well as champion a unified, dynamic tourism identity that reflected the soul of Ghana and captivated the world's imagination.