Some Hotels in Kumasi, the capital of Ashanti Region, have been closed down because they are not operating in accordance with acceptable standards.
The temporal closure of the hotels formed part of a three-day intensive exercise by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) to ensure professionalism in the hotel industry.
The exercise saw officials of the GTA in the Ashanti Region, making unannounced visits to players in the hospitality industry in the city, made up of hotels and restaurants.
During the exercise, hotels and restaurants that were refusing to pay the one percent Tourism Levy were also not spared as punitive measures were instantly taken against them.
During the visits, it was detected that some of the hotels, in particular, were not living up to expectation therefore the GTA was compelled to close them down immediately.
The affected hotels would only return to business, after they have corrected their mistakes by working to improve their operations to meet the standards of the GTA.
Prince Yaw Essah, Administrator of the Tourism Development Fund, said the exercise aimed to ensure excellent service delivery in the hospitality industry.
He said hotels and restaurants in the city that defaulted in the payment of the tourism levy or operated below the statutory safety and security standards would be punished.
Yaw Essah stated that the one per cent Tourism Levy seeks to provide funding for tourism-related projects like capacity building, development of tourism infrastructure and others.
He therefore sternly warned operators who had constantly refused to pay the levy to quickly change their minds and do the right thing, to avoid having issues with the law.
