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More than 70 percent of hospitality facilities in the Western Region do not have operating licences, Mr. Michael Kpingbi, Acting Regional Manager of Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), said on Tuesday. He told the GNA in Takoradi that most sub-standard hospitality facilities in the Region were located in areas where the visibility of the Authority was low and that out of 60 facilities in the Region 30 to 50 of them had no operating licences. Mr Kpingbi mentioned some of such unlicensed facilities as hotels, restaurants, hostels, travel and tour transport agencies, night clubs and car rental agencies. �The operators of such facilities are supposed to renew their operating licences annually with the Authority after our officials have inspected and validated their suitability�, he said. Explaining the processes involved before the issuance of operating licences to prospective operators, Mr. Kpingbi said, one was supposed to inform the GTA about the availability of the facility for inspection. Thereafter, he said, the Environmental Protection Agency would assess the environmental suitability of the facility before granting environmental impact assessment certificate. The Ghana National Fire Service would also examine the fire safety condition before issuing the fire safety certificate. The Ghana Police Service, he said, would scrutize the security viability of the facility while the Health Directorate of the Assembly would assess the health implications before it finally grants health safety certificate to the operator. Therefore, he said, it was incumbent upon all prospective hospitality operators to subject their facilities to these rigorous processes before qualifying them to operate in any part of the country.