Sub-standard, illegal tourist facilities closed down

A number of tourism enterprises, including hotels and guest houses in the Central Region have been closed down by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) for either operating without valid licences or working under sub-standard conditions. The action followed a special operation by the Central Regional Office of the GTA to rid the region of brothels and other illegal businesses that were impeding the development of tourism, which has been described as the nation’s heartbeat.

The regulation-enforcement exercise began at Kasoa where the Mays, GABE, Happi and DBS guest houses were closed down. Others were the Crystal Palace and Blackboy hotels,  as well as Jacks Inn.

At Budumburam, GTA officials clamped the Big Apple and Henry’s guest houses, while ParkN’ Lodge at Gomoa Nyanyaano was also shut down for operating without valid licences.

The owners of the affected facilities were ordered to pay a fine of GH¢500 each and also take immediate steps to register their businesses with the GTA before reopening the facilities to the public. 

According to the tourism enterprises regulations, those who reopened their facilities before paying the fine and properly registering their businesses would be arrested and ordered to pay double the initial fine, which is GH¢1, 000.

In separate interviews with The Daily Graphic, the hoteliers expressed their frustration at what they described as the cumbersome procedures involved in the registration of tourism enterprises in the country. 

They, therefore, shifted part of the blame on the GTA for not giving them enough support to regularise their operations.

The process involves registering with a number of agencies, including the Registrar General’s Department, Town and Country Planning, Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Police service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and respective district assemblies.

The Central Regional Manager of the GTA, Mr Alex Boakye, acknowledged the concerns of the tourism operators, and hinted that the GTA was in the process of setting up a one-stop shop where all the documentation could be fast tracked to ease the burden on them. 

“Before that is done, however, the law still requires that they obtain the requisite licence before they commence business. I have always advised that one does not have to come to GTA after one has finished building a tourism facility,” the GTA man said.