Killer hotel bills crippling tourism in Ghana – Kennedy Agyapong rants

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central Kenndey Agyapong has lashed out at owners in the hospitality industry in Ghana for charging exorbitant prices from their customers thereby collapsing the tourism industry.

According to him, some of the taxes on hotels’ receipts are illegal because they have not been approved by Parliament.

He wondered why hotel owners find it convenient to illegally charge their customers when Parliament has not passed such laws.

The lawmaker observed that the exorbitant charges by hoteliers scare foreigners away asking how tourism will be promoted if their hotels are expensive.

In an interview with Net2 TV monitored by MyNewsGh.com, he fumed, ‘Why is it that Tourist board, Tourism Ministry, Food and Drugs Board, EPA will charge you including VAT, and tax, why? All these agencies will charge you, the cost of hotels are so expensive in this country. And most of the taxes I have mentioned are illegal, illegal in the sense that Parliament didn’t approve it. To the extent that small hotels are also expensive, you cannot promote tourism with that expensive hotels in this country’.

He believed the influx of foreigners who will visit Ghana will be in history books if hoteliers reduce their prices calling on government to intervene to attract more investors into the country.

The outspoken lawmaker called on the Akufo-Addo’s government to channel part of its energies on tourism saying Ghana cannot generate money from oil, cocoa, and gold as it would get from tourism.

He said cameramen positioned at Dubai tourist sites make money from foreigners through his work calling on the government to draw inspiration from tourism in Dubai.

‘I’m preaching about tourism, your cocoa, oil, gold can’t give you money like tourism, the way government is so much interests in cocoa, I’m daring President Akufo-Addo to take up tourism, we will make money, when I went to Dubai with my children, Baige Califa is an eyesore, when you are down it looks beautiful but when you climb up, you only see the Sahara,’ He said in the interview with Net2 TV monitored by MyNewsGh.com.

He observed that there is total darkness on the estuary at Ada in the Eastern region on the Volta Lake urging the government to take it up as its project to attract tourist.

He wondered why people go to Paga to watch the crocodiles and return the same day.

‘There should be small hotels with restaurants with good food for tourists,’ he suggested.