The Hotels Association of Ghana has warned that close to 20 hotels are likely to shut down within the next six months if the current power crisis continues.
Hundreds of hotel staff across the country has already been laid off owing to the power crisis.
Bruce Potter, Vice President of the hotels Association of Ghana earlier told Citi Business News that the members were struggling to stay afloat.
“I am worried because if it continues much longer you will see hotels closing down. No business wants to fail and provide inferior service.
The association will not be able to tell you how many hotels will be closed down but you are likely to have close to 15 to 20 which overnight can be closed down by the close of the year if the situation continues, he said.
Mr. Potter said the banks are not ready to help and “so far the situation does not seem to be improving.”
However, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) fears the likely shut down of hotels in the country due to the ongoing power crisis will have dire consequences for the country’s revenue.
Samson Donkor, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), therefore appealed to the hotels to continue to manage the situation.
He told Citi Business News that shutting down will affect the tourism industry which has the potential of being the country’s number one revenue generator.
‘It hasn’t come to our attention yet but we know that they are having difficulties so we have been meeting them. We do appreciate the difficulties in running their facilities because of the high operational cost as the result of the ‘dumsor’ but some of them are trying to keep their head above water just to keep the business afloat to be able to break even,” Mr. Donkor said.
The Authority is giving hotel owners some technical support by taking them through processes and encouraging them to manage the situation, he said.
<<Print>>