Mrs. Bella A. Ahu
The Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) has appealed to government to grant its members incentives to compensate the negative impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the industry as confirmed cases in the country rise to 53.
The federation is seeking for subsidy in water and electricity tariffs, suspension of taxes such as VAT, Tourism Levy, National Health Insurance Levy, Property rate and Business Operating Permit.
A statement signed by Mrs Bella A. Ahu, president of the federation, and copied to the media, expressed concern about the drastic effect of COVID-19, which is crippling various institutions across the globe, especially, the tourism and hospitality industry.
The federation said it had, in the past two weeks, engaged its trade associations across the country in all the 16 administrative regions of Ghana, noting that the impact of the disease on businesses of trade associations’ members was huge and scary.
“The federation is therefore appealing to the Government of Ghana and its implementing agency, Ghana Tourism Authority, for support,” it said. It also appealed to government to help with the supply of essential commodities such as washing detergents, sanitizers, dispensers, nose masks, hand gloves, thermometer guns, Veronica buckets, hand washing soaps, tissue towels and cleaning materials at highly subsidized prices.
The federation called for more stakeholder engagements during and after the crisis and urged its members to stay calm and adhere to the directives of the World Health Organisation and the Ghana Health Service.