The National President of the Hotels Association of Ghana, Herbert Acquaye has welcomed a proposal to impose a one percent levy on hotel rates. The levy will go into a Tourism Development Fund and forms part of modifications to the tourism bill currently being considered by parliament. Whilst some Members of Parliament (MPs) believe the levy would add to the already high hotel rates, others are of the opinion the rate should be higher. The President of the Hotels Association tells Joy Business any increases in hotel rates as a result of the levy will be marginal. According to him, the association has been advocating for the levy for some time now. “We are all aware that the tourism industry is under-funded and this will be a way of having a lot of funds in the pool which can be used in areas such as training prospective hotel staff and also those in industry so this will provide great capacity and help to improve our level of service which quite fundamental to tourism growth in this country,” he explained. Source: Joy Business/Ghana