[ 2012-09-22 ]

Tourism Levy Takes Off On October 1
In the wake of calls for government to invest in
basic interventions to help the tourism industry
to thrive in Ghana, the Deputy Minister of
Tourism, Baba Jamal, has said that the Ministry
and Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) have set October
1, 2012, as the effective date to commence the
collection of the Tourism Development Levy.

The Tourism Development Levy is one percent of the
cost payable by a patron of a tourism entity and
is expected to add to the seed money that
government is expected to provide for the Tourism
Development Fund.

This follows the passage of a new Tourism Act (Act
817) and its Legislative Regulations covering the
tourism trade, accommodation and catering, as well
as the structure of the tourism authority and
tourism levy.

The Tourism Development Fund is expected to
provide the resources for the authority to market
and promote the activities and services of players
in the tourism industry in Ghana.

It will also facilitate capacity building for
players in the industry and also embark on market
research and development of tourism infrastructure
and tourism education and training.

The Ministry of Justice and Attorney General's
Department gave Tuesday, July 24, 2012 as the
effective date for the implementation of the
Tourism Levy Regulations (L.I. 2185), but the
implementation had to be delayed because the
Tourism Ministry saw the need to sensitize all
stakeholders in the industry to prevent any
misunderstanding and agitation by the
stakeholders, who are supposed to collect the levy
on behalf of the Tourism Ministry and the GTA.

Baba Jamal said so far, the ministry and the GTA
had carried out sensitization programmes on ACT
817 and the Legislative Regulation for
stakeholders in the Volta, Central, Western,
Eastern and the Greater Accra regions and he was
very hopeful that the whole country would be
covered by the end of September 2012, so that the
collection and payment of the levy could start on
1st October 2012.

'…Our collective effort in ensuring that this levy
works is in our mutual interest. It will not solve
all the challenges facing the sector. It will
however, at least help improve access to some of
the tourist attractions dotted all over this
region.

'This will in turn increase visitations and
increase the patronage of your facilities, as well
as injection of capital by tourists into local
economies,' he stated.

'The Ministry of Tourism and the Ghana Tourism
Authority recognizes that the tourism levy is not
the panacea to all challenges facing the sector.
Therefore since Act 817 was promulgated, we have
been working assiduously with the Ministry of
Finance, the Ghana Investment Promotions Center
(GIPC) and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to

review L.I. 1817 which provided incentives to
private tourism sector operators.

'Consequently, the Ministry of Finance directed
the GRA and GIPC to coordinate and administer
incentives under the Tourism L.I. 1817,' Baba
Jamal explained.

According to him, an evaluation and implementation
committee made up of representatives of relevant
Ministries, Departments and Agencies had
subsequently been set up and 'I entreat all
stakeholders to contribute positively towards the
operationalization of the Act and Legislative
Regulation to enable the tourism industry to
realize the goal of making Ghana the preferred
tourism destination in Africa'.

The Upper East regional manager of the GTA, Prince
Ishmael Hakeem, for his part called on all
stakeholders in the industry, especially those
charged with the responsibility of collecting the
levy, to be sincere in their work and account for
the levies collected.

According him, if there was enough money in the
Tourism Development Fund, then proposals could be
raised for resources to put the various tourist
sites in the region to attract more foreign and
local tourists in the area.

'I will also encourage all tourism players,
especially those of you in the accommodation and
catering sector to ensure that all staff are well
trained to serve patrons professionally and with
respect that will make them feel at home,' Prince
Hakeem advised.

Source - Daily Guide

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