Akwasi Agyemang
The Upper East Regional Director for Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr. Henry Yeleduor, has lamented the lack of support from the government to support hospitality operators in the region after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
In an interview with the media, Mr. Yeleduor said most stakeholders in the hospitality industry in the region have not received any COVID-19 stimulus package which was implemented by the government to support operators in that sector.
According to him, the hospitality industry, particularly hotels, were the hardest hit in the tourism sector and many have still not recovered due to the inability to access the COVID-19 stimulus package.
“Most of the hotel operators in the region did not receive any stimulus package and have encountered difficulties trying to get back to business again,” he said.
It would be recalled that in 2020, government, as part of its support to businesses to recover from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic announced a GH¢600 million Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme (CAPBuSS).
The programme, in collaboration with the Ghana Enterprises Agency, was to provide relief to small and medium-scale enterprises in the country to recover from the adverse effects of the pandemic.
The GTA boss reiterated that due to the lack of support from the government, most hotel operators had to lay off workers because they could not pay for their services, adding, most of them could still not hire the services of new staff.
Mr. Yeleduor further stated that even though there was an arrangement between the regional directorate and the National Service Scheme (NSS) to assist them with personnel, the programme never materialised.
“The Ghana Tourism and the National Service Scheme Programme was launched last year and they were supposed to be posting personnel to us, so we intend to post them to the hotels but the programme never worked,” he said.
Mr. Yeleduor later made a passionate call on the National Service Directorate to support the hospitality industry with service personnel in the region. He also urged the government to open the borders with protocols in place to ensure that tourists visit the region to patronise the sector.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke