The Hospitality Services Directorate runs three accommodation facilities: the GIMPA Executive Conference Centre (GECC) with 130 executive guestrooms and suites, Porter’s Lodge Hostel with 120 standard rooms and the UN Block guest rooms. It also operates a 200-seat main conference room, eight syndicate rooms, two restaurants, two student cafeterias and a central commercial kitchen. The Directorate supports matriculation, graduation, public lectures, executive programmes and international conferences, supporting more than 30 institutional events in 2025 and serving more than 2,000 conference participants a year.
Green hospitality operations at GECC include energy-saving bulbs, a linen reuse programme for guests staying more than one night, the elimination of single-use plastic straws and cups in conference spaces, refillable water dispensers in conference halls, waste segregation at source and recycling of plastic bottles through local recyclers. Single-use plastic bottles in the executive conference halls have fallen by about 15 per cent.
Batch cooking matched to confirmed headcounts keeps food waste down. Leftover edible food from controlled buffets goes to duty personnel within strict food-safety windows, and non-edible organic waste is collected for local composting. Cleaning staff are sensitised on water use, air conditioners and lights are switched off in unoccupied halls, power-card switches have been fitted in the UN Block rooms, and LED lighting is being fitted across the accommodation blocks.
A food safety management system based on HACCP principles governs storage, preparation, cooking and service. Daily temperature logs, hourly cleaning checklists, mandatory HACCP training, annual medical screening of food handlers and a first-in-first-out storage system support a 100 per cent compliance record with Food and Drugs Authority standards and the renewal of the operating permit.
Weekly menus balance Ghanaian and continental dishes with fruit, vegetables, low-oil and vegetarian options and natural fruit juices. No alcohol is served to students during academic sessions. Not fewer than 150 students and staff are served each day. About 80 per cent of foodstuffs are bought from local Ghanaian suppliers and markets, with local small businesses supplying juices, baked goods and cleaning products.
The Directorate employs about 74 full-time and 10 casual staff on fair wages with statutory pension contributions, protective equipment, four to five weeks of annual leave, annual medical check-ups and structured schedules. Twice-yearly training with the Human Resource Directorate covers culinary hygiene, customer service, emergency response, fire safety, and waste and energy management. In 2024, 21 hospitality staff interned with four-star hotels in Accra.
Through its Youth Hospitality Skills and Decent Work Internship Scheme, run with the HR Directorate, Accra Technical University and other tertiary hospitality institutions, the Directorate rotates students and National Service Personnel through front office, food production, food service, accommodation, laundry and reservations. About eight young professionals are fully trained each year, and 15 interns and service personnel have been mentored.
The Executive Conference Centre has a ground-floor lift to the first-floor conference halls and guest rooms, ramps between the first and third floors, accessible washrooms and step-free access into dining and conference areas.
