GTA moves to address price hikes in December

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has expressed its commitment to address price hikes during the yuletide.

There has been plethora of reviews pointing to the fact that some players in the Tourism trade ecosystem increased their prices during the yuletide.

Against this backdrop, GTA has put measures in place to address the concerning situation.

This was brought to light on Tuesday, January 13, during GTA CEO’s stakeholder engagement with the media.

Addressing a question, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Maame Efua Houadjeto, said, people normally took advantage of the Christmas season to increase the prices of their goods and services.

This notwithstanding, she said there would be proper regulations in place and employ the services officers to go round and report those fleecing their clients.

She added that they would advertise places who comply on their website, and other platforms as well as attach their prices.

On his part, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of GTA in charge of Marketing and Special Duties, Gilbert Abeiku Aggrey, said they have met various trades associations under GTA and engaged them on the consequences of such actions.

“The Ghana Tourism Authority, on our part, have met our stakeholders – the various trade associations under the Tourism sector,  hotels, car rentals and all that, and our appeal to them was not to take advantage of the festive season,” he said.

He further added that “if you have 100 room occupancy and you think that GTA has marketed the December in Ghana for more people to come and you hike your prices, you will not break even.”

Mr Aggrey advised that business was a sustainable long term investment and for that reason the target should not be making profit everyday by taking advantage of clients.

He called on the media to join the GTA educate the public and stakeholders.

The media engagement held from January 12-13, was part of GTA’s high-level stakeholders’ meeting, bringing together key players across Ghana’s tourism value chain to set the tone for the year ahead.

The engagement, the first of its kind for the year, was attended by representatives from across the tourism industry, including hospitality operators, tour operators, event promoters, cultural and heritage stakeholders, and allied service providers. 

By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme 

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