Sally Mbanefo
By Sunny A. David, Awka
The Anambra State Government through the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, Indigenous Art, Culture and Tourism seeks to partner with Hotel Owners Association towards improving the state Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) and hospitality and tourism establishments.
This was part of resolutions during the hotel owners’ stakeholders meeting at the Jerome Udoji Secretariat Complex, Awka.
Some of the key point issues included government-hotel owners relationship where the government will give registration license to these hotel owners and develop a template that will allow them over see the affairs and grading of hotels in the state.
Addressing the stakeholders, the Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Indigenous Art, Culture and Tourism, Mrs. Sally Mbanefo, said that the essence of the meeting is to start inspection of hotels now that the state has been empowered to register hotels which is another source of generating revenue for the state and boosting hospitality business.
She also assured that the Ministry would ensure that the hotel owners are not subjected to multiple taxation, revealed that the state government will be making provision for infrastructure, constant electricity by distributing transformers and good roads in order to maintain the already existing relationship between hotel owners and Ndi Anambra in diaspora.
In his speech, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Anambra State Internal Revenue Services, Dr. Keddy Ezekwute, noted that a lot of hotels in the state are yet to be registered with the Board of Internal Revenue Services, stating that one of the advantages of the registration is that it gives room to knowing the owners and how to assist them during challenges urging them to be faithful in paying their tax and desist in defrauding the state.
In her presentation titled “Hospitality and tourism establishment” a Resource Person and Special Assistant to the Governor on Tourism, Lady Collette Nwadike, enumerated the different things that rate a Hotel to include Locality, Capacity, Room service, Staff and service and Hygienic environment, amongst others.
There were also questions and answer section where certain issues bothering the stakeholders were cleared.