Hoteliers in the Western Region, particularly in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis have complained of non-payment of bills by prominent clients including government officials. These officials who book facilities to pay later leave bills unpaid. As a result, the hoteliers find it difficult to fulfill their tax obligations, pay bank loans, staff and meet other commitments. Mr. George Aggrey, Western Regional Chairman of the Ghana Hotels Association (GHA), made the disclosure at the second national executive council meeting held at Takoradi on Thursday. In addition, he said, the hoteliers were also confronted with unstable or erratic power supply, frequent water shortages, unbearable taxes from both local and national level, and poor road networks to their hotels. To the end, he appealed to the responsible institutions to as a matter of urgency address these challenges to enable them to offer satisfactory services to their clients. In his address, he said the National President of the Association, Mr. Herbert Acquaye, noted that the local hotel industry was registering formidable growth as new and larger hotels were being built throughout the country. He said Ghana's tourists arrivals seemed to be growing year by year due to international business conferences organised in the country. In this regard, Mr. Acquaye stressed the need for hoteliers to create processes to attract highly talented prospective employees. He said through job fairs, they could inform and educate the public on key issues like accredited educational institutions offering hospitality courses locally and internationally, as well as career opportunities in the industry. Mr. Acquaye noted that the current generation of hotel employees seemed restless and therefore, apply for new jobs at every hotel opening or leave the industry to work in other sectors of the economy. He said the association was determined to ensure uniformity in remuneration packages for hotel industry staff as compared to other industries. In this regard, Mr. Acquaye hinted that the association would this year, conduct extensive research to enable it to provide a "salary guide" for the categories of staff in the hotels, to help bridge the disparities in remunerations from hotel to hotel within the industry. He said the GHA had initiated plans to institute an awards scheme to recognise its peers and industry personnel for innovation and excellent service delivery as from 2012. The meeting under the theme, ‘Training and retaining the current generation of hotel employees,’ was also addressed by some stakeholders. Source: The Ghanaian Times