A Professor at the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof. Ishmael Mensah, has called on government to review the disbursement of stimulus package to tourism sector operators.
The review, he explained, had become pertinent in order to ensure that service providers within the sector were adequately catered for under the package.
The stimulus package was part of measures to cushion operators in the hospitality industry to deal with the effects of COVID-19.
He also appealed to government to implement policies that would help revamp the hospitality industry.
Prof. Mensah, who is also the Ghana Director of the Confucius Institute, UCC, in an interview with the Ghanaian Times, called on the government to review the taxes imposed on operators.
He noted that currently, there were about 13 different taxes, which culminated in charges at the hotels and other service providers.
Prof. Mensah said the tourism sector was on course to fully recover from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He asked government to lead the way in the recovery processes since it was one of the critical sectors of the Ghanaian Economy.
”We should not leave the recovery efforts in the hands of hotels, airlines and other organisations within the value chain alone”, Prof Mensah said and cautioned that “The country should not lose its guard in the fight against the pandemic. We are not out of the woods yet”.
He said that the tourism sector was resilient adding that “We have to understand that all is not lost, but the state needs to put in place adequate measures, to ensure the sector gets out of the current challenges quickly”.
Prof. Mensah called for the empowerment of operators of people in the tourism sector and the promotion of social tourism through government subsidy on the cost of travel.
He stressed that, domestic tourism had the potential to drive the nation’s recovery from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prof. Mensah said 150,000 tourists were expected to arrive in Ghana between October and December, on the “Beyond the Return” initiative.
Prof. Mensah said “Tourism will continue to be the fourth exchange ex-change earner despite challenges the tourism sector is facing due to COVID-19”.
FROM DAVID O. YARBOI-TETTEH, CAPE COAST
