Hotels in Ghana’s Central Region are facing a sharp decline in business as road construction, unreliable water supply and rising operating costs combine to put pressure on the hospitality industry.
President of the Ghana Hotels Association, Victor Minta, said the challenges are particularly severe in Elmina, where some hotels have reportedly gone nearly three months without regular water supply and have had to rely on water tankers to meet their daily needs.
He said the additional cost of purchasing water for hotel operations, including swimming pools, was putting further strain on businesses already grappling with high utility bills, taxes and other operational expenses.
“Currently, the cost of business is very high, such that in the Central Region, in Elmina specifically, for nearly three months, there’s been no water flowing through the taps,” Mr Minta said.
“So every hotel facility has to rely on water tankers to supply water for the hotel facilities, for the swimming pools. And you can imagine how expensive that is.”
Beyond the water crisis, Mr Minta said ongoing road construction in parts of the region had significantly reduced tourist traffic and hotel occupancy.
He disclosed that occupancy at his facility had dropped from an average of between 40 and 45 per cent to about 28 to 29 per cent, which he attributed largely to the disruption caused by road works.
“From a hotelier’s point of view, I can tell you categorically that business has dropped considerably here in the Central Region as a result of the road construction,” he said.
He explained that prolonged travel times and difficult access to tourist destinations could discourage visitors from travelling to the region, with hotels consequently bearing the impact through lower patronage.
Mr Minta therefore called for measures to minimise the disruption caused by road projects and improve access to tourism destinations.
He also raised concerns about the effect of taxation on hotel operations, saying a significant share of revenue from room sales is absorbed by taxes before operators can meet their business costs.
“Every hotel room you sell at approximately 100 cedis, about 20 percent is taxes. So even you have about 80 cedis left to cater for the cost of actually doing business,” he said.
Despite the difficulties, the Ghana Hotels Association is preparing promotional packages to stimulate demand during the Yuletide and encourage both domestic and international visitors to spend more time in hotels.
Mr Minta said some facilities were considering offers such as a complimentary fifth night for guests who book four nights as part of efforts to attract visitors.
“We’re looking at how to provide promotions that provide maybe three or four nights and the fifth night free, that kind of thing, to help encourage more people to travel, to escape and to rejuvenate,” he said.
He also called for closer analysis of tourism performance, particularly the relationship between domestic tourism and international arrivals, to provide a clearer picture of the industry’s actual growth.
Data from the Ghana Statistical Service Accommodation Unit Survey cited in the report show that domestic guest numbers ranged between 1.87 million and 2.17 million per month over a four-month period, while foreign guest numbers remained below 40,000 per month.
The figures underscore the importance of the domestic market to the accommodation sector, with domestic visitors accounting for the large majority of recorded guests during the period.
Mr Minta’s concerns therefore point to the need for coordinated measures to address infrastructure challenges, reduce operational pressures and improve access to tourist destinations if hotels are to remain competitive and affordable.
