1,135 accommodation units licensed nationwide

Accra, April 26, GNA - Mr Martin Mireku, Executive Director of the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB), on Thursday announced that 1,135 accommodation units nationwide had been given licence to operate as at the end of March 2007.

The licensing of these establishments is a yearly exercise done by the Ghana Tourist Board to ensure that operators in the hospitality industry were functioning within the set standards. Mr. Mireku, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said to enforce the set standards the board had put together a team of experts at the headquarters to check operators in the hospitality services every quarter.

"The Ghana Tourist Board will from next month start a regular exercise aimed at maintaining high standards in the hospitality industry."

He said there would also be a mid-year monitoring programme by the board to ensure that operators who had been given licences to operate maintained the standards all year round. Giving statistics, he said at the end of March this year there were 187 restaurants and 280 tour operators who had been given licence to operate.

There is also a check on the informal catering establishment, which include drinking bars and chop bars. Mr Mireku noted that there were a huge number of such informal joints in the country and the board had been able to licence 1,538 by March. There are 518 chop bars and the rest are drinking bars. He said the board had already trained teachers who would help the GTB staff in the enforcement programme.

Mr Mireku cautioned that operators who did comply with the set standards would have their establishments closed down and those who have been licensed would also need to show their licenses. "There are other measures by the board to ensure food safety," he said, adding that the board was also collaborating with the Ghana Standards Board for a nationwide training of hotel and restaurant operators to ensure food safety. 26 April 07