Post-Pandemic Assessment of COVID-19’s Impact on Tourist Accommodation Businesses in Tamale Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract

The study was carried out to ascertain the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourist accommodation businesses in the Tamale Metropolis. Simple random sampling techniques were employed to select 30 tourist accommodation facilities for inclusion in the study. Qualitative data were sourced using semi-structured interview guides and thus analyzed through putting same into themes and sub-themes. The findings revealed that the pandemic had “damming” impacts on tourist accommodation businesses due to travel bans and border closures. In order to control the effects of the pandemic, many hotel managers decided to cancel external contracts, ‘slash’ employees’ pay, terminate some employee appointments and raise or lower service prices to cut down costs. It was also revealed that hotels were often concerned with issues of health and safety and took several precautions to avoid viral infections. The study recommends the adoption of recent technologies such as facial scan, self-check-in and check-out including the use of automatic door technologies to improve safety. Government also needs to swiftly provide financial support for SMEs operating within the tourism and hospitality value chain aimed at revamping the industry.