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The Ghana Hotels Association (GHA) has expressed concern for the future of the hospitality industry amid soaring costs of utility, rising tariffs, taxes, and levies.
Like several other industries, the sector suffered greatly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic with its attendant problems of price hikes, hefty taxes, and property rates.
The association’s immediate past Central Regional Chairman, Mr. Isaac Nkoom, said that the prevailing burdensome conditions and “astronomical increases” pose significant risk of collapse to businesses in the industry.
“How could a facility that pays a property rate of GH¢700 suddenly rise to GH¢20,000 or from GH¢1,800 to GH¢50,000? We are not against the increase and the collection by GRA, but we are against the astronomical increases killing our businesses.
“We do not know how they arrived at those sharp increases and, as far as we remain stakeholders, we expected some consultations on operational modalities before implementation,” he said.
He further emphasized that the problem is compounded by the existence of 20 multiple and duplicate taxes and levies such as NHIL, VAT, GETfund, COVID-19 levy, EPA Levy, FDA levy, MMDAs levy, Fire Service Levy, a one-percent tourism levy, among others.
According to Mr. Nkoom, these appear to be punitive measures against the industry and called for changes to be made.
“This must certainly change for our mutual gain. The entire arrangement appears we are being punished for owning businesses because the rates do not reflect the reality of our business,” he lamented.
Mr. Isaac Nkoom was speaking at the Fourth National Executive Meeting of the GHA at the Elmina Beach Hotel last Friday on the theme, “Sustaining the Hotel Industry in Ghana Post-COVID-19 Pandemic”.
