Business News of Friday, 23 March 2018
Source: citibusinessnews.com
2018-03-23
Chief Executive Officer of the GTA, Akwasi Agyemang
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), has promised to start prosecuting all unlicensed hospitality establishments who fail to register with the authority in its amnesty month of April this year.
The Chief Executive Officer of the GTA, Akwasi Agyemang said that all hospitality establishments registered, will rake in more revenue for the country whilst ensuring all establishments operate under the required standards set by the authority.
Speaking to Citi Business News on the sidelines of the inaugural West Africa Integrated Travel Forum, Mr Agyemang called on unlicensed hospitality institutions to avoid public humiliation by registering with the GTA.
“In the month of April we’re going to grant an amnesty for people unlicensed to own up and register. If they don’t do that then we’ll go after them. And anytime we’ve gone after them we’ve seen a growth in the number of new operators who come in and register.”
The GTA CEO promised financial repercussions for entities that fail register during the amnesty.
“Normally, when we do enforcement, there’s an extra charge, but we’re trying to avoid that with this amnesty. We want the companies to come to us themselves. If we have to go chasing them they’ll pay the license fees as well as administrative charges for the effort made in going after them.”
About The WAIT Forum
The two-day West Africa Integrated Travel Forum was used to among other things begin a process of promoting joint marketing efforts amongst Tourism Boards and Authorities in the West African Sub-region.
The forum was also used to draw the attention of the related authorities and policymakers to the need to ease up travel blocks within the region.
The West Africa Integrated Travel Forum (WAIT) served as an avenue to link consumers with products and services across the sub-region and provide a joint platform for access to information, organize road shows, exhibitions and other joint promotional efforts.