The hotel industry in Ghana employs about 500,000 people mainly, consisting mainly the youth, Mr. John Kufuor, the Chief Executive of the African Regent Hotel, has said.He said hotels also promoted the modernisation of the country and gave the platform to foreign visitors to form their first impressions about the country.

He was addressing a media event in Accra to launch the Third Annual National Hotels Awards, in Accra. Themed, “Harnessing the Economic Potential of the Hotel Industry through Technology, Innovation and Cost Reduction,” the awards ceremony would take place on January 20th, 2018, at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra.

Mr. Kufuor observed that there was a lot of room for the industry to grow and enhance national socio-economic growth. “We have not started growing the industry yet; we can achieve a lot more improvement,” he said.

He said activities such as the on-coming awards, promoted the industry and supported its growth, which contributed to national advancement.

Dr. Abraham Ahinful, Chairman of the Awards Planning Committee, said the objective of the launch, was to motivate players in the industry to work harder towards achieving excellence. “We hope the theme would motivate players in the industry to put up their best and come up with innovations that would ensure growth,” he said.

Categories for the awards include Front of House Team of the Year (Two and Three Star category), Green Hotel of the Year (Four and five Star category). Others are the Regional Branch of the Year, Hotelier of the Year, and Budget Hotel of the Year.

The awards are organised by the Ghana Hotels Association.