Bono Region: Tourism Authority closes down 70 hospitality facilities

The 70 facilities closed down by the Authority include 30 hostels, 32 eateries, and eight formal accommodations.

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The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), has closed down 70 defaulting hospitality facilities during an enforcement exercise in the Bono Region.

According to the GTA, the owners of the facilities were either operating without valid licences, had failed to renew their licences, or had failed to register their facilities and were operating without the completion of their registration process.

The 70 facilities closed down by the Authority include 30 hostels, 32 eateries, and eight formal accommodations.

Food, beverage, and entertainment facilities or informal operators are required to pay an annual licensing fee that is between GH¢20 and GH¢50. But the Regional Director of the Authority says most facility owners fail to pay the seemingly meager amount. 

“The money required from the operators was not much. But when I send my officers to the field to collect the revenue, the operators attack and insult them,” the Bono, Bono East, and Ahafo Regional Director of the GTA, Joseph Appiagyei said.

While noting that the government is losing revenue from the hospitality industry because of non-compliant facilities, he stated that about 300 hospitality facilities in the three regions are likely to be closed down at the end of the enforcement exercise.

On July 18, 2022, the GTA closed down six hotels and other eateries in the Ahafo Region for operating without regulatory permits. 

Recently also, it found some facilities in the Eastern Region to be in violation of L.I. 2238 and L. I. 2239 of the Tourism Regulations 2016. About 12 eatery and hospitality facilities were closed down for operating without a GTA license.