The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) says that contribution to the Tourism Development Fund (TDF) is not done by tourism establishments as claimed by the Ghana Hotels Association (GHA), but by patrons of these establishments.
According to GTA, patrons of tourism establishments per the law must pay one per cent of the amount paid to the establishment, who would then remit the same to the government through the fund.
Mr. Prince Yaw Essah, Fund Administrator of the Tourism Development Fund, said this when he reacted to the GHA’s claim that they were seeking an amendment of the Act that established the fund for the private sector to have some form of respite in its disbursement because they were the major contributors to the fund.
The GHA had, earlier in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), expressed concerns about the lack of a disbursement plan for the fund since the Act that established it, that is the Tourism Act (817) 2011, empowers the GTA alone to have total control over the decision-making and management of the fund without the involvement of the private sector.
Mr. Essah, however, disputed the fact that the GTA’s attention had been drawn to the issue of amendment of the Act, saying “my office is not officially aware of their concerns, but if that is what they intend doing, then they must follow due procedure because the Act that established the fund is an Act of Parliament.”
He said the tourism establishments were only withholding agents, who collect the money on behalf of the government and later remit the same through the fund for the development of tourism in the country.
“We are not against the fact that they want to be part of how the money is being disbursed or have the Act amended. We all pay VAT to the government and yet have not come up to say we want to be actively involved in how the VAT is being used,” he stated.
The Fund Administrator said the Act gives the GTA the power to do the collection, and the fund is to be managed by the board of directors of the GTA with a representative from the Controller and Accountant General.
He said the Act is clear on who disburses the money or sits on the board, and so tourism establishments must abreast themselves with the Tourism Act 817 (2011) because that is exactly what the Authority does.
“We are going strictly by the dictates of the Act, so if anybody has issues with the fund as it is now, they should consult the Act. Of course, when it is amended, we would work according to that, but until then we are strictly going by the law, and we cannot do anything outside the Act,” he added.
The one per cent monthly Tourism Levy, guaranteed under Legislative Instruments (LI) 2238 and 2239 and mandated by the Tourism Act, 2011, Act 817, is one per cent of the cost payable by patrons of tourism entities and is expected to be the key source of finance for the TDF and to add to the seed money that government is expected to provide for the fund. It does not replace state funding for tourism but substantially supplements it.
The TDF aims to provide funding for tourism and tourism-related projects and programmes. The fund is used to sponsor activities including marketing and promotion; capacity building, market research and the development of tourism infrastructure; development and promotion of other entrepreneurial activities within the sector; tourism export activities; and education and training.
GNA