Ashanti Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr Frederick Adjei-Rudolph, has reiterated his office’s commitment to sanitizing and promoting the tourism and hospitality industry in the region.
In an interview with NY DJ on Y102.5FM, Mr Frederick Adjei-Rudolph stated that an ongoing exercise which involves locking up various tourism and hospitality facilities in the city is not aimed at destructing businesses but rather an effort to make these businesses compliant with basic regulatory requirements.
Among the prevalent breaches by some of the facilities are a lack of registration, absence of an operational licence, and expired licences, among others.
“This exercise is not targeted at destructing businesses, and that is one thing I want people to understand. Especially for those who have their licences. There must be a level playing ground for everybody. We are doing this to sanitize the system and save the tourism and hospitality industry from going down the drain in the region.”
According to Mr Frederick Adjei-Rudolph, there is an increasing number of illegal operators in the region, hence the need to act immediately.
“We realized that the illegal operators are becoming too many. At the moment, we are working with a list of about 203 facilities in the region operating without licences. These are the ones we know. If we do not act now, this list might increase by next year and affect the tourism and hospitality industry in the region.”
He also revealed the exercise will continue till the end of August 2025.
The Ghana Tourism Authority is mandated by law to regulate the tourism and hospitality industry in Ghana, and also market the country as the preferred tourism destination.
