The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has held a sensitisation workshop for players in the hospitality industry and other service providers on best practices to boost returns on investment and promote tourism.

At the workshop held for participants from the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo regions, Mr Alex Boakye, the Head of Standards of the Quality Assurance Department of GTA, sensitised them on the Authority’s new Regulative Instrument covering all areas of operation and urged them to adhere to it in order not to attract sanctions.

He said the new Regulation covered areas such as food, accommodation, beverage and entertainment and set up the minimum requirement for the establishment of businesses within the various segments of the tourism industry.

The Regulative Instrument also provided for the regulation of registration, qualification licenses, grant licenses and their renewal as well the suspension, modification and cancellation of licenses among other guidelines.

Mr Boakye said the GTA would ensure strict enforcement and compliance of the new guidelines to guarantee optimal operation and by players.

Consequently, he said, the GTA was stepping up critical assessment before license was issued for full operations.

This, he said, would be done by sending out inspectors to inspect and supervise all on-going projects to ensure standards before completion, adding that those which did not meet standards would be sanctioned.

He advised participants to take risk management seriously by undertaking good insurance policy coverage for their staff.

Mr Peter Achampong, the Manager of the Ashanti Regional branch of the GTA, urged the category ‘B’ service providers; the drinking and chop bars, to ensure good hygienic practices to avoid being sanctioned during the random checks.