The Ghana Hotels Association has raised concerns about the possibility of Ghana recording lower tourist arrivals in the coming months due to the 21 levies being charged by the government.
According to the hoteliers, the multiplicity of taxes has forced members to increase rates at their facilities making it slightly higher than facilities of competitors in neighbouring countries whose rates are lower and attractive to tourists.
In an interaction with Michael Kofi Okyere Baafi, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry at the Eastern Regional Hotel Forum in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional President of the Hotels Association, Samuel Yeboah, listed bad access roads to hotels and tourist sites, multiplicity of taxes by government agencies and property rates, business operating permits, signage fees noted that these levies will threaten the Beyond the Return agenda by government and the Ghana Tourism Authority if not addressed.
“We were even promised this mid-year that we were going to see certain things, we also did not see that. So, I believe that now that he is here, let us put the tax questions to him because I believe it will be a way to send that message…In fact, technically they say that it is 15% but when we put all the levies together it is about 21%.
“Again, we also talk about this COVID levy being taken away and all that. We’ve talked about it severally not just us alone, others have also talked about it. What is GRA or the government doing about it so that some of these things will go away? They keep on saying that our rates are still expensive. It is because of all these composite taxes that we are going through. What is the government doing so that some of these things go away,” he stated.
The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Michael Kofi Okyere Baafi who commended them for remaining in business despite these challenges assured them of government support and urged members of the association to take advantage of the 8.2 billion SME Growth and Opportunity Fund to expand their operations.
