The Ghana Hotels Association (GTA) has indicated that a nationwide accommodation unit survey (AUS) to be conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) will strengthen its advocacy for tax relief and reduce operational costs.

This announcement comes as GSS prepares to begin a nationwide survey of commercial accommodation units, scheduled from November 1, 2024, to October 31, 2025.

The survey will be conducted across all 261 districts and 16 administrative regions of the country, involving 1,077 accommodation units sampled from a total of 9,602 registered units.

The survey will gather data from various commercial accommodation types, including hotels, guest houses, hostels, and apartments that provide short-stay options for both domestic and foreign guests.

This was announced during a sensitisation workshop in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, with stakeholders within the tourism sector, on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

The survey coordinator at the GSS, Dr Ebenezer Ocran indicated that the initiative will also enhance decision-making for policymakers in the tourism sector, adding: “The impact of the survey is that we will be able to compile estimates of the tourism satellite account. That is another way of estimating the size of the tourism sector.”

“So, if we can do that, we should be able to measure the size of the tourism industry to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This should also help us estimate our national GDP. We can also generate a series of statistics to back reliable data on clients.”

Meanwhile, the Ghana Hotels Association asserts that the survey will bolster advocacy for government interventions, such as tax relief and lower operational costs.

The President of the Association, Dr Edward Nyamike, said: “It is important to us because it will help us with our advocates. A lot of the time, when we are advocating for lower taxes and then generally lower operational costs. I think we don’t get the right response because those we are advocating do not have the full picture of where we are coming from.

“They don’t even see the actual contribution of the sector to the economy, so this project or survey will help us to establish our actual contribution. So that when we are making our case for lower tariffs, we will receive a hearing.”