Hotels in Ghana are not losing business to Airbnb, but to what they describe as an uneven and unfair regulatory environment that favours short-let operators, according to the President of the Ghana Hotels Association, Dr Edward Ackah-Nyamike.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, Dr Ackah-Nyamike rejected claims that Airbnb is outcompeting hotels on room bookings.
He argued that the real challenge facing hotels has never been competition, but unequal regulation.
“Our challenge has never been with competition at all,” he said, explaining that hotels occupy a unique position in the hospitality market.
According to him, hotels offer a bundled range of services that short-let apartments cannot easily match.
“We provide accommodation at the same place, we provide entertainment, provide food and drinks. We also provide some recreation activities, in some cases, car rentals,” he noted.
He said this gives hotels a clear niche and advantage, and that framing the issue as a competition problem is misleading.
Dr Ackah-Nyamike stressed that the concern of hotel operators lies squarely with regulation, especially taxation, levies and compliance costs.
“What we have not been happy about is the regulation of that sector in terms of taxes, in terms of levies, in terms of the regulatory fees that we pay that they don’t pay,” he said.
He explained that this disparity allows Airbnb operators to offer cheaper rates, not because they are more efficient, but because they are not subject to the same financial and regulatory obligations.
“That is our concern,” he added.
He acknowledged that Airbnb does play a complementary role in the hospitality industry, especially during peak periods.
“To the extent that you can go to some hotel, the place is booked, and the only option that you may have is an Airbnb, so yes, it’s helping the industry as a whole,” he said.
However, he warned that the benefits come with distortions when one segment of the market operates under different rules.
“But it’s the unequal environment that it provides in terms of taxation. That’s what our issue has been,” he stressed.
Dr Ackah-Nyamike said hotels would have no objection to Airbnb operators if they were subjected to the same standards and oversight.
“So once that sector of the industry is well regulated, and they are paying their tax, they are paying their levies, they are doing all the regulatory things that we do, we have no problem at all with that,” he said.
He listed regulatory bodies hotels are required to comply with, including the Food and Drugs Authority, the Fire Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, insisting that fairness demands equal treatment.
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