Villaggio, Airport Side Hotel closed down

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) yesterday closed down the luxurious Villaggio Vista and the Airport Side Hotel in Accra as part of a nationwide exercise to clamp down on illegal hospitality facilities.

Villaggio Vista, located at Airport West in Accra, was closed down for operating without a licence.

The management was given a 24-hour ultimatum to check out all guests who were already in residence.

The Airport Side Hotel, located at Spintex in Accra, was also closed for operating without a licence, as well as operating below standards.

Officials from the GTA, who visited the two hospitality facilities in the company of armed policemen, placed closure notices on the premises and gave the management 24 hours to ensure that all guests were checked out.

Villaggio’s reaction

When the GTA officials arrived at Villaggio, the management protested and challenged the authority of the GTA to close the facility down.

The Villaggio management insisted that they were unaware of any law that prevented them from operating and added that the GTA officials only wanted to embarrass them.

The Manager of Operations of the GTA, Mr Michael Kpingbi, however, insisted that the facility was not operating within the law and went ahead to close it down.

The management of the Airport Side Hotel, however, apologised and pleaded with the GTA officials for some time to enable them to rectify the situation.

GTA briefing

Briefing the media after the exercise, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GTA, Mr Akwasi Agyeman, said the move was aimed at enforcing the law by clamping down on illegal operators in the hospitality and tourism sector nationwide.

He said licensed institutions that did not meet the standards required by the GTA would not be left out.

Facilities targeted were hotels, drinking spots, restaurants, movie centres, service apartments, fast food joints, among others, he said.

Regions

The first phase of the operation commenced in the Greater Accra Region yesterday afternoon.

"It is quite unfortunate that some people would decide that they want to establish a hotel, a hostel, a restaurant, a guest house but would not go through the needed process.

"So we have decided to once again go out and weed them out. So for all illegal operators who have sprung up, we are embarking on the exercise to weed them out," he said.

He added that those whose standards did not meet the requirement would be given the opportunity to rectify their mistakes.

Mr Agyeman further stated that a national task force, including security officers, had been instituted to carry out the operation.

He said the team which started its task from the Greater Accra Region yesterday would continue until Friday, June 7, 2019 and move to Tema from Monday, June 10 to Tuesday, June 11, 2019.
Mr Agyeman said the team would continue to the Central, Western, Ashanti, Bono, Ahafo, Eastern and Volta regions.

More to follow...