Accra- A three-day exercise to enforce voluntary payment of the one per cent Tourism Levy, has begun in the Ashanti Region.
It is also to promote quality standards, safety and security in the tourism industry.
The Levy, stipulated in the Tourism Act 817 of 2011, is meant to provide the requisite resources for sustainable development of the tourism industry.
Mr Prince Yaw Essah, Administrator of the Tourism Development Fund, said the exercise was to ensure strict compliance in the payment of the Levy.
It is also meant to recover arrears owed by facility operators to put GTA in a better position to market and promote Ghana’s tourist resources.
Mr Essah in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), urged stakeholders, especially key players in the tourism industry to strive to do the right thing.
This was because the Levy paid by users of tourism establishments or units in the form of indirect tax was ultimately to the benefit of the nation.
The Administrator said the exercise would see the taskforce visiting more than 50 tourism facilities in the Region, to verify how they were complying with the payment of the Levy.
Mr Ekow Sampson, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in-charge of Operations, GTA, indicated that tourism had huge potentials, which could be tapped for job and wealth creation.
Stakeholders should, therefore, be supportive of the work of the GTA in the interest of all and sundry.
The first day of the exercise saw the closure of Hotel La Sab and Abeh Cabayaro Hotel, all in Kumasi, for defaulting in the payment of the Levy for a number of years.