Ghana Hotels Association’s President sends proposal to amend Tourism Development Fund

Ghana Hotels Association's President, Edward Ackah-Nyamike Jnr has sent a proposal to the government of Ghana for amending the Tourism Act 2011. The amendment is to ensure the effective utilisation of the Tourism Development Fund.

Edward Ackah-Nyamike Jnr advocated for transparent management of the fund to benefit and support activities of all parties in the tourism industry – both public and private sector. "This call will involve amending the Ghana Hotels Association Act. In the short term, I will want the ministry to ensure that every objective of the fund is pursued without bias," he said.

"We want the fund to benefit the private sector directly just as the Ghana Hotels Association also uses it to support their activities directly," he said to Graphic Online. Thus, he called on the Minister designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Barbara Oteng-Gyasi to take a critical look at the Tourism Development Fund within her first 100 days in office, Graphic Online noted.

The board of Tourism Development Fund may be comprised of representatives from the Ghana Hotel's Association, public agencies and the private sector, still there was no fair allocation of proceeds from the fund. "The Tourism Development Fund is more public-sector driven to the detriment of the private sector because although the board comprises representatives from the Ghana Hotels Association, public agencies and the private sector, a chunk of the proceeds are used for Ghana Hotels Association initiatives," he added.

Established in 1975, The Ghana Hotels Association comprises a total of 1,150 registered hotels.

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