The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has shut down three hospitality centres in the capital.

According to the Authority, these businesses owe over GH¢600,000 in levies.

Business operators in the tourism and hospitality sector are mandated to pay their 1 percent tourism levy, but Hill View Hotel, Suma Court Hotel and Tayiba Cafe, all in Accra, failed to do so after several attempts to get them to comply.

In an interview with Citi Business News, acting Director of Public Affairs at GTA, Nelson Jones, urged all operators to regularize their operations with them or risk facing sanctions as part of the ongoing exercise.

“It’s not a matter of targeting, but the issue is if we come and your cheque is ready, we are only coming for the money, either the money or we close you down because we have given them ample time.”

“So, these three facilities were not able to give us any undertaking,” he stated.

The Tourism Levy, stipulated in the Tourism Act 817 of 2011, is meant to provide the requisite resources for the sustainable development of the tourism industry.

The Authority carried out a similar exercise in 2019 where it planned to close 115 tourism facilities in the Western Region for defaulting to the tune of G¢489,000.