Hoteliers complain of high tariffs
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot

Accra, Aug 21, Ghanadot - Hotel operators in the country have disclosed that the services they provide to their clients seem expensive compared to that of hotels in other parts on the African continent because of the high taxes and other tariffs they pay.

They have therefore appealed to government, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), Ministry of Tourism, Ghana Tourists Board and other stakeholders in the hospitality industry to consider reducing the various taxes to allow them to charge realistic fees for their services.

According to them, when this was done, it would force them to reduce the cost of their services, which would make it possible for all manner of people to patronise their services.

By so doing the local hospitality industry would develop faster than it is doing presently.

Speaking in an interview with Ghanadot at Tema on Thursday, the Greater Accra regional chairman of the Ghana Hoteliers Association, Nene Opei IV pointed out that the situation also accounts for the numerous brothels and other unregistered facilities in the country, especially the capital.

He explained that hotels and guest houses operating in the cities and big towns in the country pay a number of taxes to a number of institutions which burdens them financially and put a lot of pressure on them.

“In the cities and the metropolis, we have a lot of taxes we pay to the MMDAs, Fire Service, VAT, Income tax, Ghana Tourists Board, COSGA, and others I can’t readily mention”, Nene Opei IV revealed.

He continued that; “If we put all these things together, it is very difficult to operate in a transparent way that is why you see most of the hotels not registered, because they want to avoid these taxes and high tariffs which also include; electricity, telephone and water bills.

“Coupled together, if your occupancy rate is not above 50 - 75 % you can’t even meet the payment of these taxes, let alone the salaries of your workers”, he stressed.

He pointed out that this is the reason why many players in the industry prefer to hide in the dark to do things such as avoiding the payment of taxes and obeying the rules of the game, as set out by the MMDAs, Ministry of Tourism and Ghana Tourists Board.

Nene Opei continued however that in-spite of all the problems mentioned above, the industry is gradually improving.

He explained further that “We now have more players with better facilities, improvement and delivery than the existing ones coming into the industry who know the rules of the game and want to be abreast with standards to really meet the benchmark of business men from the Diaspora and other parts of the world”.

He hinted that to extend the business to every nook and cranny of the country and make it available to all and sundry, the government has introduced a Legislative Instrument (LI 1817) which gives more tax relief to people who wants to set up their operations in the rural areas.

The man who is also a traditional ruler in the Prampram Traditional area revealed that the idea was also to enhance the coming in of more hotels in the rural areas.

Touching on some of the challenges confronting the industry, he called on the central government and the Ministry of Tourism to set up an exclusive bank for hotel operators in the country.

According to him, hotel operators need a bank that understands the nitty-gritty of the industry especially in the area of granting them long term loan to enhance their businesses.

Nene Opei disclosed that this was because the interest on loans they took from the regular banks was too high, saying they do not benefit from the loans they obtain to from the bank for the purpose of refurbishment.

As a result of the high interest rates they pay most of the time they are unable to complete the refurbishment of their hotels when they have to pay back.