Ahead of the mid-year budget review, the Ghana Hotels Association is calling on the government to introduce policies that will reduce the cost of living in Ghana.

According to the association, this would increase the disposable income of the public, which will help increase patronage of tourism and hospitality facilities across the country.

President of the Hotels Association, Dr Edward Ackah-Nyamike stressed that its proposition is instrumental to reviving the sector that continues to grapple with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The general cry of people is that things are becoming more expensive, and indeed they are. The hotel industry borders on a lot of different areas, talk about building materials. The price of cement, iron rod, among others are getting more and more expensive. When things get expensive, what it means is that then the disposable income is reduced, then leisure also becomes a challenge. So people are not ready to put more money into those areas.”

“But I think, the focus on government is to look at the inflation rate as well we have it. The figures may show that there has been some improvement, but the reality on the ground is that things are becoming more and more expensive,” he added.

Per Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is expected to present the 2021 mid-year budget review and supplementary estimates for the financial year in Parliament later this month.

Ofori-Atta is expected to present the budget review in Parliament on Wednesday, July 29, 2021.

The tourism and hospitality industry continues to grapple with the impact of the pandemic.

The government has however made some moves to help revive the sector.

The tourism ministry is projecting to create 1 million jobs in the sector in the next three years as part of efforts to revamp the sector that had many lay-offs in the heat of the outbreak.