Tourist Board to Prosecute Hoteliers

A number of hoteliers in the Central Region who have defaulted in the repayment of special loans for the preparations for PANAFEST '96 would be made to face prosecution as from January next year.

The Acting Deputy Executive Director of the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB), Mr Edwin Owusu-Mensah, said this, when he met tourist operators in the Eastern Region at Koforidua on Wednesday.

He said the Board, in collaboration with the United States Peace Corps, would establish pilot Community-based Eco-Tourism Management Projects in the Eastern Region next year.

Mr. Owusu-Mensah said the Aburi Botanical Gardens, the Klowem Mountains and Bunso, are areas that would be considered under the project and said the local people would be offered technical assistance in the management of tourist sites.

Mr. Owusu-Mensah announced that the Board would ensure that the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development assist District Assemblies in establishing tourism desks.

This, he said, would facilitate the identification and development of tourism attractions as well as the registration and licensing of informal partners in the tourist industry, such as drinking and chop bars operators.

This would also help stakeholders improve their service delivery, pay taxes regularly and enable them to obtain technical andfinancial support.

He announced that the USAID has granted three million dollars to the Board for training programmes for operators in the industry and said a technical committee was working with the Attorney-General's Department to review and harmonise the legislation regarding the tourism industry.

To this end, Mr Owusu-Mensah said a Business Development Planning Unit had been set up by the Board to guide new entrants, train and offer extension services to operators in areas of service, maintenance and marketing.

He called for the strengthening of the various sub-unit operators in the industry towards the re-organisation of the defunct Ghana Federation of Tourism Operators (GHAFTOS) to enable them to solicit government's support and to ensure effective service delivery.

The Head of Research/Statistics/Information of the GTB, Mr Enoch Yaw Sarpong-Kumankumah, called on the operators to keep proper records to facilitate information gathering for planning and support services.The National President of the Ghana Hoteliers Association (GHA), Nana Adjei Twinin, asked them to maintain efficiency in their services by employing trained personnel.