Homestay Hosting Level 2

Who it is for. People who have finished Homestay Hosting (Level 1), or who can show the same skills. You may already host one or two paying guests and want to grow to about three rooms, take bookings online and run the stay well with your family. National Proficiency II covers varied work, mostly routine, under limited supervision.

Bridge from Level 1: what you already know

Level 1 gave you one safe, clean room and a warm welcome. Level 2 teaches you to design a stay, to cook for every diet and allergy, to book with written rules and sums that add up, to list honestly online, to answer reviews, to fix complaints, to score your quality, and to share the benefit with your village.

How this course links to other courses

Some methods are taught fully in other Hub courses. This book names them so you do not learn two versions:

Stay a home. This course is about a family home taking guests, not a small hotel. If you grow to four or more guest rooms, you are moving towards a category B guest house: use Hospitality Services Level 3 for that route.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. About 70% of the time is practical.

Course method. Where this book gives a step-by-step method, a policy, a menu, a script or a rule of thumb, it is a course method written for this module from good practice. It is not copied from one source and it is not a law.

Example numbers. Every GH¢ price in a worked example is an example made up to teach the sums, unless a source is given. No official Ghana homestay price survey was found. Real prices change. Ask first, then do your own sums.

Scripts. The model scripts are written so you can say them word for word while you learn. Once you know them, make them your own and say them in the language your guest understands best.

Our running example. Auntie Esi Mensah, her husband Kwame and their children run Esi's Family Homestay in their family house at Akwidaa, in the Western Region (example). In Level 1 she had two guest rooms with single beds and charged GH¢250 per person per night with breakfast. In this book she has three rooms: Room 1 "Palm" and Room 2 "Ocean" upstairs, now with a double bed and a single bed each, so two guests travelling together can each have their own bed, and Room 3 "Garden" on the ground floor with a step-free path and its own bathroom. She now charges GH¢350 per room per night with breakfast, for one or two guests sharing (example; the GTA approves the daily charge). All her numbers are examples.

Competency standard

Range. One to six guests staying one to seven nights in a family home with up to three guest rooms, in a village or small town. Evidence. Guest-journey map; a 2-night experience plan; welcome pack; observed activity offer; oral questions.

What "experience" means for a homestay

A homestay guest does not come only for a bed. The ASEAN Homestay Standard describes a homestay as tourists staying with the host's family in the same house and experiencing the everyday life of the family and the community. In its scoring, activities carry the biggest weight of all nine criteria: 20%. This is a foreign model, but the lesson is clear: the activities are the heart of a homestay.

Ghana's own law points the same way. L.I. 2239 defines a "home stay" as a private house offering accommodation to paying travelling guests who are on a cultural or academic study programme. Students, researchers, volunteers and culture lovers are your natural guests. They want to learn.

The guest journey: five stages

Think of a stay as a journey with five stages. At each stage, ask: "What does the guest need? What do they feel? What do I do?" (course method).

Choosing activities: home-based and guided

There are two kinds of activity. Home-based activities happen in your home, your farm or your kitchen, led by your family. Guided activities take guests to a site, a forest, a lake, a fort or a town, and need a licensed guide.

The ASEAN standard asks homestays to offer activities that show local culture, local enterprises and nature, and to let guests take part, not just watch.

Tours need licensed guides

Under the travel trade regulations, L.I. 2389 (2019), tour guides and tour operators are licensed by the GTA. Under the Tourism Act, nobody may operate a listed tourism enterprise without a GTA licence. So:

Respect sacred days, places and rules

Every community has its own rules. Guests do not know them. You must.

Diaspora guests

The GTA led the Year of Return in 2019 and the Beyond the Return programme that followed. Many diaspora visitors want to feel at home with a Ghanaian family, eat home food, learn greetings and visit heritage sites. Treat sensitive history with care and use a licensed guide who knows how to guide heritage sites with dignity (Tour Guiding Level 2). Never promise to find a guest's "home village" or ancestors; you cannot prove it.

An example 2-night village experience

This is an example to copy and change. Times are examples.

Rest time is part of the plan. Leave the guest free time every day. Never fill every hour.

The welcome pack

A welcome pack is a short folder or laminated card set in each room, and the same text as a PDF or WhatsApp message. It answers questions before the guest has to ask.

Scripts you can use

Offering an activity without pressure: "Tomorrow morning my son goes to the fish landing at six o'clock. You are welcome to go with him and watch the boats come in. It takes about an hour, and there is no charge for that. If you prefer to sleep, that is fine too. Just tell me tonight."

Explaining a sacred day: "Thursday is a sacred day on the lake, so the canoes do not go out. Let us plan the lake for Wednesday or Friday. On Thursday I can show you how we make palm oil instead."

Handing over to the guide: "This is Kofi. He is a licensed guide; here is his card. He will take you to the forest and bring you back by one o'clock. Kofi, our guests do not want a hard climb, and one guest has a bad knee."

Inviting to storytelling: "After dinner, my mother tells stories on the porch. Some are Ananse stories, some are about our family. You are welcome to join us, or to rest. Both are fine."

What can go wrong and what to do

Check yourself

1. Why do activities matter so much in a homestay?
2. When must a homestay use a licensed guide?
3. Name four things that go in a welcome pack.

Competency standard

Range. Breakfast every day and other meals by arrangement for one to six guests, cooked in a family kitchen with gas or charcoal, a cool box or fridge, and market-bought food. Evidence. Diet record; 3-day menu plan; kitchen routine and temperature log; observed allergy-safe meal; menu costing; oral questions.

What the law says about meals at a home stay

For a category C home stay, a basic breakfast is provided, and meals other than breakfast are by arrangement. The GTA's home-stay application form says "Breakfast is compulsory" and asks the host to state the type: Ghanaian, international or as required. So your breakfast must be reliable, and your other meals must be agreed in advance, with a price.

Step 1: Ask about diet and allergies, twice

Ask at booking and again at arrival. Write the answer in the booking diary and on a card in the kitchen.

Confirming an allergy back to the guest (script): "Mr Owusu, you told us you are allergic to groundnuts and that it is serious. So in our kitchen we will cook your food first, in a separate pot, with no groundnut paste and no groundnut oil, and we will serve your plate first. If you are ever unsure about a dish, please ask me before you eat. Do you carry your own medicine? Please tell me where it is, in case you need help."

Step 2: Know each diet

These are course notes to start a conversation. Always ask the guest what they avoid, because people follow diets in different ways. Read the label of every packet, cube, spice mix and sauce.

Do not guess. If you are not sure a dish is safe for an allergy, do not serve it. Say: "I am not sure this one is safe for you, so I made you something else."

Step 3: Plan the menus

A 7-day breakfast rotation

Breakfast is compulsory. Plan seven so a guest who stays a week does not eat the same thing twice. Each breakfast has a Ghanaian and an international option, as Form B asks. Serve fruit and safe drinking water every day.

A 3-day dinner menu for a mixed group (example)

Auntie Esi has four guests for three nights: Ama (vegan), Mr Owusu (serious groundnut allergy), Fatima (halal, no pork), and Kwesi (age 8). She plans one base meal that most can eat, with small changes, so she cooks once and cooks safely.

Why one base meal? Fewer pots, less confusion, and a lower chance of mixing up plates. Where a guest needs a different dish, cook it first and in its own pot.

Step 4: Run a food-safety system

The Five Keys, as a kitchen system

The WHO's Five Keys to Safer Food are: keep clean; separate raw and cooked; cook thoroughly; keep food at safe temperatures; use safe water and raw materials. The detailed messages include: wash hands before and during food preparation and after the toilet; sanitise surfaces; keep insects and animals out of the kitchen; keep raw meat, poultry and seafood apart, with separate knives and boards; bring soups and stews to boiling so they reach 70°C; reheat thoroughly; do not leave cooked food at room temperature for more than 2 hours; refrigerate promptly, preferably below 5°C; keep hot food above 60°C before serving; do not thaw at room temperature; use safe water; wash fruit and vegetables eaten raw; do not use food past its expiry date.

The ASEAN standard adds: serve only safe drinking water; cover served food; no chipped plates or cups; remove mosquito breeding places.

Allergy control in six steps (course method)

The temperature log

Keep a simple log on the wall. A cheap food thermometer is worth buying; the price was not verified, so ask at a kitchen-supply shop.

Buying and storing with a cool box

Step 5: Permits and health checks

The FDA's guidelines for licensing food service establishments cover any place where food is prepared, stored or served to the consumer, including hotels, restaurants, cafés and catering, and the list is "not limited to" these. To apply, you need, among other things, a health or food handler's test certificate for tuberculosis, hepatitis A, typhoid and other communicable diseases for each worker who prepares or serves food. The Food Hygiene Permit is valid for one year; you renew three months before it expires, with evidence of food-handler training; licensing can take up to two months once all requirements are met; and the permit must be displayed.

The FDA said food service places without a valid permit would be closed from 1 February 2026, and in February 2026 Graphic reported 16 closures in Greater Accra, including a beach resort. Local Assemblies also issue food-handler health certificates, renewed yearly, according to reports.

Step 6: Cost the menu

Scripts you can use

Apologising for a food mistake (no harm done): "I am very sorry. I put fish powder in the stew, and you told us you are vegan. That was my mistake. Please do not eat it. I will make you a fresh plate now, in a clean pot, in fifteen minutes. And I have changed my kitchen card so it will not happen again." (Then do not charge for that meal.)

When a guest asks for something you will not serve: "I am sorry, we do not serve bushmeat to guests. We can make you a very good grilled tilapia or chicken instead."

When a guest asks to cook in your kitchen: "You are welcome to join our cooking class tomorrow at four, and we will cook together. For safety, I am the one who uses the gas, and we follow our kitchen rules."

What can go wrong and what to do

Check yourself

1. Which meal must a category C home stay provide, and how are other meals handled?
2. Give the four temperature and time numbers from the Five Keys.
3. Name three of the six allergy-control steps.

Competency standard

Range. Direct bookings by phone, WhatsApp and walk-in, and bookings from online platforms, for up to three rooms over a month. Evidence. Booking diary; written policy; three role-play bookings to receipt; guest register entries (practice data only); month summary; oral questions.

One diary, every booking

The worst mistake in a small homestay is the double booking: two guests, one room, one night. It happens when bookings live in three places: your head, WhatsApp and an online calendar. Keep one booking diary, on paper or in a phone spreadsheet, and update every online calendar from it the same hour.

Front-office standards abroad list the same jobs for any reception: take and record reservations, receive guests, handle receipts and payments, and reconcile the money. You do the same, in a family way.

The room grid

A room grid shows each room down the side and each date across the top. Write the booking code in each night's box. A glance shows free rooms.

(A night belongs to the date the guest arrives that evening. B1 arrives 2 November and leaves 5 November: three nights, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th.)

The booking list

For each booking, write one line:

From enquiry to checkout: the booking steps

Your booking, deposit and cancellation policy

Write the policy before you take bookings, and send it before the guest pays. A policy that the guest saw before paying is fair. A policy you invent after the guest cancels is not.

This is an example policy (course method). Change the numbers to suit you, and ask the GTA or a lawyer to look at it. For bookings made through Airbnb or Booking.com, the policy you choose on that platform applies; keep it close to your own.

Money: deposits, balances and receipts

Receipt message (by WhatsApp, after a deposit): "Thank you, Ms Boateng. We have received GH¢525 by mobile money (reference 4X7…) as the 50% deposit for booking B1: Room 1, 2 to 5 November, 3 nights. Balance to pay on arrival: GH¢525, plus dinners by arrangement. Receipt no. 0412. — Esi, [homestay name]."

The tourism levy question

The Tourism Act names a 1% levy payable by the patron (the guest) of a listed tourism enterprise into the Tourism Development Fund. A GNA feature explains that the guest pays and the establishment is only a withholding agent, collecting it and paying it on; covered places include hotels, guest houses and hostels. Whether a category C home stay must collect it in 2026, and on what amount, was not verified. Ask the GTA regional office. If you must collect it, show it as a separate line on the bill: it is the guest's money passing through you, not your income.

The guest register and the Ghana Card rule

L.I. 2239 says the operator keeps a register on the premises with each guest's details, including: name; gender; occupation; date and place of birth; particulars of a government-issued ID (for non-residents, the passport number, place and date of issue); nationality; country and address of residence; number travelling together; for non-residents, port of arrival, next destination outside Ghana and purpose of visit; mode of payment; mode of travel; date and time of check-in; room number; departure time.

The National Identity Register (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (L.I. 2523) came into force on 9 June 2026. Organisations must not request, photocopy, scan or retain copies of the Ghana Card for identity checks, except where the law permits; real verification is now biometric through the NIA's system. The Interior Ministry set 2 November 2026 as the deadline for institutions to stop photocopying Ghana Cards.

Guest data is precious: protect it

The Data Protection Commission says all data controllers and processors must register, and lists eight principles: accountability; lawful processing; a clear purpose; quality of information; no use for a different purpose; openness; security safeguards; and the person's right to take part (to see and correct their data). The fee table under L.I. 2512 shows GH¢156 a year for a small data controller (as printed: annual turnover GH¢90,000 and below). Whether a single-family homestay must register was not verified; the DPC says "all". Ask the DPC.

A worked month: November at Auntie Esi's

All numbers are examples. Rate GH¢350 per room-night with breakfast; dinner GH¢60 per person; 50% deposit for direct bookings. Three rooms × 30 nights = 90 room-nights available. Online platforms collect their own payments. In this example Booking.com takes 15% commission on the room price (third-party guides report about 15%, range 10 to 25%), and Airbnb takes a 3% host fee (an example only; check your own account).

Cancellation and no-show (direct bookings, by the policy).

• B5: room total 3 × 350 = 1,050; deposit 50% = 525. Cancelled 10 days before (7 to 13 days): refund half the deposit = 262.50; Esi keeps 262.50.
• B7: room total 2 × 350 = 700; deposit 350. No-show: deposit kept = 350.
• Cancellation income kept: 262.50 + 350 = GH¢612.50.

Deposits received on direct bookings. B1 525 + B4 1,750 + B5 525 + B7 350 + B8 1,050 + B10 700 = GH¢4,900. Refund paid out: GH¢262.50 (B5).

Balances due on arrival (direct bookings that stayed). B1: 1,050 − 525 + 360 = 885. B4: 3,500 − 1,750 + 600 = 2,350. B8: 2,100 − 1,050 + 720 = 1,770. B10: 1,400 − 700 + 240 = 940.

The month in numbers.

• Total income: room 11,900 + dinners 2,400 + cancellation income 612.50 = GH¢14,912.50.
• After platform commission: 14,912.50 − 283.50 = GH¢14,629.
• Occupancy = room-nights stayed ÷ room-nights available = 34 ÷ 90 = 37.8%.
• Average rate per room-night sold (ADR) = 11,900 ÷ 34 = GH¢350.
• Room income per available room-night = 11,900 ÷ 90 = GH¢132.22. (These measures are taught in Hospitality Services Level 2, Unit 5.)
• Levy at 1%, if it applies (not verified): 1% × 11,900 = GH¢119, collected from guests and paid on; it is not Esi's income.

What Esi learns. Her rooms were empty almost two nights out of three. The university group (B4) brought 10 room-nights in one booking. In Unit 7 she uses these numbers to work out her profit and to plan for more study-programme guests.

Scripts you can use

Confirming a booking (WhatsApp, word for word): "Akwaaba, Ms Boateng! Your booking is confirmed. Booking B1: Room 1 Palm, arriving Monday 2 November, leaving Thursday 5 November (3 nights), 2 guests. Room with breakfast GH¢350 a night, total GH¢1,050. Deposit received GH¢525; balance GH¢525 on arrival. Dinners by arrangement at GH¢60 per person. We have noted: no pork, and one guest does not eat pepper. Check-in from 14:00. Two days before you come, I will send directions and a map pin. Our cancellation policy is below. We look forward to welcoming you. — Esi"

Refusing a refund kindly, inside your policy: "I understand, and I am sorry your plans changed. When you booked, our policy said that for cancellations less than 7 days before arrival, the deposit is not refunded, because we turned other guests away for those nights. I cannot refund it this time. What I can do is this: if you rebook within the next three months, I will take GH¢100 off your stay (example). Would that help?"

A guest wants to come without a deposit: "We would love to have you. To hold the room for you we ask a 50% deposit, because we are a small family house and we turn other guests away for your nights. If you prefer, I can keep the room for you until 6 pm today without a deposit, and after that it goes back on the list."

If you made a double booking (prevent it; but if it happens): "I am very sorry. I have made a mistake with our booking diary, and your room is not free tonight. This is my fault. I have found you a room at [nearby place], which I have checked, and I will pay the difference and take you there myself. Your deposit is refunded in full now. I would be very glad to host you another time at a discount."

Check yourself

1. Why must the guest see your cancellation policy before paying?
2. What do you write in the register about a guest's Ghana Card, and what must you never do?
3. Three rooms, 30 nights, 45 room-nights sold: what is the occupancy?

Competency standard

Range. One family homestay with up to three rooms, listed on two to four channels. Evidence. Profile drafts (paper or practice account); listing text; photo set; three review replies; channel sums; oral questions.

Before you list: be legal and honest

Which channels? A comparison

Start small (course advice). Start with Google Business Profile and WhatsApp Business, because they are free and bring direct bookings. Add one platform when your licence route is clear and your diary system works. More channels mean more chances of a double booking.

Step by step: Google Business Profile

Step by step: WhatsApp Business

Greeting message (sample): "Akwaaba! Thank you for contacting [homestay name], a family homestay in [village]. Please tell us your dates, how many guests, and any diet or access needs, and we will reply with prices and availability. — Esi"

Away message (sample): "Thank you for your message. We are with guests or asleep right now and will reply by [time] tomorrow. For an emergency during your stay, call [phone]."

Step by step: Airbnb (course method)

Screens and steps on Airbnb change often; follow what the app shows. These are the main decisions.

Step by step: Booking.com (course method)

A sample listing (example: Auntie Esi's)

Title: Family homestay by the sea, breakfast included, step-free room

Description (about 150 words): "Stay with our family in a quiet fishing village, a short walk from the beach. We have three clean guest rooms in our family house. Each room has a mosquito net, a fan, a lockable door, a desk and a wardrobe. Rooms 1 and 2 are upstairs and share a clean bathroom with a shower. Room 3 is on the ground floor, with a step-free path and its own bathroom with a grab rail.

Breakfast is included every day: choose Ghanaian or international. Dinner is available if you ask in advance, and we cook for vegetarians, vegans and allergies.

You can join our cooking class, visit the fish landing at dawn, or take a forest walk with a licensed guide we know well.

Please note: power cuts happen; we have a torch in every room and a generator in the evenings. The last 2 km of road to the village is not tarred. We are a family home: quiet hours start at 10 pm."

Not included: dinners and lunches (by arrangement), guided tours, transport, and the tourism levy if it applies.

House rules (short): no smoking indoors; no visitors in guest rooms; quiet hours 10 pm to 6 am; please ask before photographing family members; please greet the elders.

Photo checklist

Reviews: earn them, read them, answer them

Booking.com guests give an overall score from 1 to 10 (the only question that must be answered) and may give sub-scores for cleanliness, comfort, value, facilities, location and staff. Read your sub-scores every month: they tell you exactly what to fix. Unit 6 shows how to turn them into an action plan.

Saying goodbye and asking for a review (word for word): "Ama, Kofi, thank you for staying with us. It was a joy to have you, and my children will miss your stories. [Hand over the receipt.] Here is your receipt; you have paid everything. [Walk them to the gate.] If you enjoyed your stay, a short review on Google or Booking.com would help our small family business very much. I will send you the link on WhatsApp now. And if anything was not right, please tell me first, so we can fix it for the next guest. Safe journey, and you are always welcome back."

(Send the link within the hour, with a thank-you message.)

Never: pay for reviews; write your own; ask family and friends who did not stay to review; offer a discount only in return for a good review; argue with guests in public; put a guest's private details in a reply.

Replying to reviews (course method)

Five model replies:

1. A 5-star review. "Thank you, Linda! We loved having you, and the children still talk about your drawing lesson. We are glad the kenkey breakfast became your favourite. Come back any time. — Esi and family"

2. A good review with one complaint ("Lovely family, but the shower was weak"). "Thank you, Paul, for your kind words about our family. You are right about the shower. We have since cleaned the shower head and fitted a bigger water tank, so the pressure is better. We hope to welcome you again. — Esi"

3. A 3-star review ("Clean room, but noisy at night; a church nearby"). "Thank you for staying with us. I am sorry the noise kept you awake. The church nearby holds night services on Fridays. We now tell guests about this before they book, and offer earplugs and our quieter ground-floor room. Thank you for helping us improve. — Esi"

4. A 1-star review that is partly unfair ("Dirty place, no breakfast!"). "Thank you for your review. I am sorry your stay did not meet your hopes. Breakfast is served every day from 7:00 to 9:30; on the morning you left at 5:30 we packed you bread and fruit, and I am sorry it was not enough. We clean every room daily, and I would be glad to hear what you found dirty, so we can fix it. Please contact me directly on [number]. — Esi"

5. A review that raises a safety issue ("The stairs have no rail"). "Thank you for pointing this out. You are right, and we are sorry. A carpenter is fitting a rail this week, and until then we give guests who find stairs hard our ground-floor room. Thank you for helping us keep guests safe. — Esi" (Then do it.)

What a booking really earns

What can go wrong and what to do

Check yourself

1. Which two channels should a new homestay start with, and why?
2. Name four things a listing photo set must include.
3. Give the first three steps of replying to a bad review.

Competency standard

Range. Complaints about rooms, water, power, noise, food, privacy and money; difficult behaviour by guests or visitors; incidents by day and night. Evidence. Five scored role-plays; incident log entries; oral questions.

Why complaints matter so much in a homestay

• A dissatisfied guest may complain to the GTA under the Tourism Act. The complaint is made in writing within 30 days of noticing the problem.
• The GTA may suspend a licence for, among other things, persistent complaints of poor service.
• One calm, fair answer often turns an angry guest into a loyal one. One rude answer becomes a bad review that stays online for years.

The method: L-A-S-T, plus two home steps

You learned L-A-S-T in Tour Guiding and Community Homestay Level 2, Unit 4: Listen, Apologise, Solve, Thank. It is not taught again here. In a homestay, add two steps (course method):

Three rules for every case (course method). Keep your voice low and slow. Never argue in front of other guests or children. Protect people first, property second, money last.

Difficult situations: exact words to use

These are course method scripts. Learn the words, then say them in your own voice and in the guest's best language. After every case, write the incident log.

1. "There are insects (or bed bugs) in my bed!"

"I am so sorry. Thank you for telling me at once. Please bring your bag out of the room; I will move you to Room 3 now, which we checked this morning. [Move them.] I will strip and check your bed and the mattress myself, wash all the linen in hot water and treat the room before anyone sleeps there again. Please check your bag with me so nothing is carried to the new room." Then: inspect the mattress seams, bed frame and walls with a torch; wash linen hot; call a licensed pest-control service if you find bed bugs; do not let a guest use that room until it is clear. No charge for that night is a fair offer (course advice).

2. "There is no water in the shower" (or the water is cold)

"I am sorry, the water tank is empty because the town supply was off today. I have two full buckets of clean water for you right now, and I can warm one on the stove in ten minutes. The tanker comes at 5 pm; after that the shower will work again." Then: give buckets and a scoop; warm water if asked; refill the tank; check the tank level every evening from now on.

3. The power goes off at night

"The power is off in the whole village. Here is a charged torch; there is also one in your bedside drawer. We switch on the generator from 6 pm to 10 pm; it is outside, away from the windows. If you need to charge your phone, please give it to me and I will charge it on the generator." Generators must always run outside, never inside a home or an enclosed space. No candles in guest rooms (course rule).

4. Noise: a funeral, a church, a family party or a neighbour

"I am sorry the noise is keeping you awake. There is a funeral in the village tonight, and the music usually stops at about midnight. I cannot stop it, but I can offer you earplugs, and our ground-floor room at the back is quieter: would you like to move there?" If the noise is your family's: "I am sorry, that is our fault. I will ask them to stop now." Then do it.

5. A food mistake involving an allergy

First check the guest is safe. "Did you eat any of it? How do you feel?" If there is any trouble breathing, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or collapse: call 112 at once and help the guest use their own medicine (Unit 2). If no harm was done: "I am very sorry. That was a serious mistake by us, and I am grateful you are well. I will cook your food myself from now on, first and in a separate pot. There will be no charge for today's meals." Then write the incident log and change the kitchen routine.

6. A family member walks into the guest's room

"I am very sorry. My nephew opened your door without knocking. That is not acceptable in our home, and I have spoken to him. Nobody will enter your room again without your permission, except to clean at the time you agree. Please check that nothing has been moved, and tell me if anything is wrong. Here is a door hanger: 'Please do not disturb'." Then: talk to the family member privately; remind the whole household of the rule never enter a guest room uninvited; check the lock works.

7. A guest brings a visitor or an extra person to sleep

"You are welcome to meet your friend on the porch or in the sitting room until 9 pm. For safety, and because of the rules for licensed home stays, visitors cannot stay in guest rooms or sleep here unless they are booked as guests. We do not have a free bed tonight, so I am sorry, your friend will need to leave by 9 pm. If you would like, I can phone a taxi for them." L.I. 2239 says a home-stay guest has exclusive use of the room and shall not share a bed, and an individual host shall not board a guest of the opposite sex. If an extra person wants to stay and you have a free room, register them as a new guest.

8. A guest is drunk

"Let us get you some water and a seat on the porch. You will not go to the beach tonight; it is not safe after drinking." Keep the guest away from the sea, the gas and the stairs. Keep children inside. If the guest becomes aggressive: keep your distance, keep the family together and away, and if anyone is in danger, call 112. Talk about it calmly the next morning: "Last night was difficult. Our house rule is no drunkenness in the house. If it happens again, I will have to ask you to leave."

9. A guest breaks a house rule (for example, smoking in the room)

"Excuse me, I can smell smoke. Smoking inside is not allowed in our house, because of fire and because of our children. It was in the house rules we talked about on your first day. You are welcome to smoke at the bench by the gate. Please put that out now." If it happens again: "This is the second time. If it happens again, I will have to end your stay, as our house rules say."

10. A guest wants to leave early and wants money back

"I am sorry the stay has not been what you hoped. Can you tell me what went wrong? [Listen.] Our policy, which you saw when you booked, says nights booked but not used are not refunded, unless we can let the room again. If anyone books the room for those nights, I will refund you for them. And if something in our home was not as we promised, I want to make it right: [offer a fair fix]." If the guest leaves because of something you did wrong, refund it fairly; it is cheaper than a complaint to the GTA.

11. A guest harasses a family member

Firm and clear: "Stop. That is not acceptable in our home." Bring the family member away at once. Then, privately: "Your words and behaviour towards my daughter are not acceptable. I am ending your stay. Please pack; you will leave by [time]. I will refund the nights you will not use." Stay with another adult; do not argue alone. If there is a threat or assault, call 112 and do not let the guest leave with anything that is evidence. Write the incident log the same day.

12. You suspect a guest of exploiting a child

"Child" means a person under 18. The travel industry has its own child-protection code. Course rules: no unaccompanied minors without a guardian's written consent; never leave a guest alone with children; never let children enter guest rooms; never allow a guest to bring a local child into their room. If you see something that worries you (a guest bringing a child who is not theirs into the room, gifts and secret meetings, photos of children undressed): do not confront the guest alone. Keep the child safe and away. Call 112 (police) or go to the nearest police station; tell the Department of Social Welfare. Write down what you saw, the time and the guest's details. Hotline numbers for child protection were not verified: ask your district Social Welfare office and write them on your emergency card.

13. A guest refuses to give details for the register

"I understand you want to keep your details private, and I respect that. The licensing rules for accommodation require us to keep a register with each guest's name and ID details. I write only the type and number of your ID; I do not copy or photograph your card, and the register stays locked. Without it, I am not allowed to accommodate you."

14. A guest threatens a bad review unless you give a discount

"I want you to leave happy, and I will fix any real problem. Please tell me what was not right. [Listen; fix any real problem as usual.] But I cannot give a discount in exchange for a review. That would not be fair to our other guests or to the people who read reviews." Write the conversation in the log. If a false review appears, reply calmly with the facts (Unit 4).

15. "Something was stolen from my room"

"I am very sorry; let us look together." Search the room with the guest, not alone. Ask when they last saw it. Do not accuse your family or helpers in front of the guest. If it is not found: "I will report it to the police with you, and I will ask everyone in the house. Please write down what is missing." Help the guest make a police report; write the incident log. From now on, remind guests in the welcome talk to lock their door and to keep valuables locked away.

16. A guest is not back at night

If a guest said they would be back by a time and is two hours late, and does not answer the phone: phone their travel companion or the guide or driver they went with; ask at the places they planned to go. If you are worried about their safety (sea, road, illness), call 112 (course rule). Write every call and the times in the log.

17. A guest wants to swim in the sea at night

"Please do not swim tonight. The sea here is not safe at night, and there is nobody to help. In the morning, my son will show you the safer place and the times. Swimming after dark or after drinking is how people drown on this coast." (See Homestay Hosting Level 1, Unit 6 and Tour Guiding and Community Homestay Level 2, Unit 3.)

Ending a stay safely

Ending a stay is a last step, for danger, harassment, repeated rule-breaking, or illegal behaviour (course method).

The incident log

Example log entry

Check yourself

1. What are the four L-A-S-T steps, and what two steps does a homestay add?
2. Within how long, and how, can a guest complain to the GTA?
3. What must you never do if you suspect a guest of exploiting a child?

Competency standard

Range. A family homestay with up to three guest rooms; a quarterly self-audit and a mock inspection. Evidence. Completed self-check sheet with score; action plan; mock inspection report; oral questions.

Ghana's own rules come first

Two parts of L.I. 2239 tell you what a home stay must have.

The Third Schedule: minimum requirements for a category C home stay:

Form D: the GTA inspection field sheet for a home stay. Inspectors record the location, rooms, beds, toilets, tariffs and host details. They look for these mandatory items: a homestay licence issued by the GTA, a statutory permit, and a lodger's register. Mandatory guest-room items: a bedside table for each occupant; a writing desk with chair and lamp; an armchair with side table for each occupant; a full-length mirror; a wardrobe with a door and at least 4 hangers; full blinds across windows and openings; comfortable bedding (mattress, blanket, cover sheet, pillows); bedside lamps or switch; guest-room doors with secure locks; bedside rugs on hard floors. Safety and security: a first-aid kit or box, burglar proofing at least on the ground floor, and security lighting. The sheet ends with a recommendation that the home should or should not be given a licence.

Form D asks for more furniture than the Third Schedule minimum. Prepare for the Form D list.

A foreign model for scoring: the ASEAN Homestay Standard

Ghana has no published homestay grading scheme that was found. The ASEAN Homestay Standard (a foreign model from South-East Asia) groups homestay quality into nine criteria: host, accommodation, activities, management, location, hygiene and cleanliness, safety and security, marketing and promotion, and sustainability. Its audit has 27 sub-criteria and 91 requirements, each marked Yes, No or Not applicable. The score for each criterion is: Yes ÷ (requirements − Not applicable) × the criterion's weighting.

A score of 75 to 100% qualifies as an ASEAN Homestay; the handbook also shows lower bands of 60–74, 40–59 and 20–39. We use the ASEAN weightings and the 75% mark as a course target, not a Ghana rule.

The Homestay Quality Self-Check Sheet

This sheet is a course tool. It mixes Ghana's own rules (L.I. 2239 Third Schedule and Form D) with ASEAN requirements and good practice, grouped under the nine ASEAN criteria. It has 81 items. Mark each Y (yes), N (no) or NA (does not apply to your home, for example "life jackets" if you offer no water activity). Be honest: walk around with the sheet in your hand, and look.

Host (6 items, weighting 5%)

Accommodation (12 items, weighting 10%)

Activities (10 items, weighting 20%)

Management (10 items, weighting 15%)

Location (5 items, weighting 5%)

Hygiene and cleanliness (12 items, weighting 15%)

Safety and security (10 items, weighting 10%)

Marketing and promotion (8 items, weighting 10%)

Sustainability (8 items, weighting 10%)

How to work out the score

Worked example: Auntie Esi's first self-check (example)

Esi scores 69.18, below the 75 target. Where does she lose most? Activities lose 20 − 12 = 8 points; Management loses 15 − 7.50 = 7.50 points; Marketing loses 5 points. Hygiene loses only 1.25. So she fixes activities and management first, not the bathroom she was worrying about.

Her fixes over three months: she adds a nature walk with a licensed guide and a craft session (+2 activities), starts an incident log, written guides and a guest record (+3 management), fits a missing armchair (+1 accommodation), buys and tests a smoke alarm (+1 safety), and claims her Google profile and publishes her policy (+2 marketing).

Her new score is 82.34: above the target. Nine small fixes added 13.16 points.

A foreign comparison: South Africa's bed-and-breakfast minimums

South Africa's Tourism Grading Council describes a bed and breakfast as accommodation in a home where the host lives in the house or on the property, guests share public areas with the host, and breakfast is included. Its minimum requirements include (foreign model):

The emergency card, the torch in every room and the lockable doors are cheap and easy. Copy them.

Turn review sub-scores into actions

Your Booking.com sub-scores (cleanliness, comfort, value, facilities, location, staff) are a free quality check. Each month, write the lowest one and one action.

Preparing for a GTA inspection

Under the Tourism Act, GTA inspectors may enter a tourism enterprise and ask for its registers. Prepare as if they may come any day.

Check yourself

1. What are the three mandatory documents a GTA inspector looks for in a home stay?
2. What is the ASEAN formula for a criterion's score?
3. Which ASEAN criterion has the biggest weighting, and how much is it?

Competency standard

Range. A family homestay with up to three rooms in a village or small town, with its neighbours, chief and community groups. Evidence. Community contribution plan; monthly profit sheet; access audit; business idea note; oral questions.

Respect: the guest is a visitor in the whole village

The UN Global Code of Ethics for Tourism has ten articles, among them mutual understanding and respect, cultural heritage, and benefit to host communities. The ASEAN standard asks homestays to respect local customs, follow a code of conduct for wildlife, and ban commercial sex and illegal drug use.

What other communities do (Ghana examples)

• Tafi Atome (Volta). A community-based ecotourism project began in 1996 with the Nature Conservation Research Centre. A Tourism Management Committee works with the community; tourism income is shared among stakeholders, including the traditional leaders, and supports community development, compensation to landowners and education funds.
• Amedzofe (Volta). An 11-member governing council for the Amedzofe tourism industry was inaugurated in June 2021, and the GTA asked it to grow domestic tourism.
• Nzulezo and the Amansuri wetland (Western Region). The Nzulezo tourism initiative is part of the Ghana Wildlife Society's Amansuri Conservation and Integrated Development programme with five fringe communities, using ecotourism to conserve the wetland and earn income for community development.
• What guests notice. One traveller guide described a village rest house with lake-facing rooms but no mosquito net and no towel. Guests forgive simple rooms. They do not forget missing basics.

Your community contribution plan

The full six-step benefit-sharing plan for a village fund is in Tour Guiding and Community Homestay Level 2, Unit 6. Use it. Here is how a single family homestay fits in, following the ASEAN sustainability ideas of local staff, local purchasing and craft sales.

Look after water, waste and energy (course method)

The small homestay as a business

Auntie Esi's November: income, costs and profit (example)

From Unit 3, Esi's November income was GH¢14,912.50 (room 11,900 + dinners 2,400 + cancellation income 612.50). There were 53 breakfasts served (guest-nights) and 40 dinners. All costs are examples.

Notes on the sums.

• The helper's pay of GH¢50 a day (example) is above the national minimum of GH¢21.77 a day. Employing staff brings SSNIT and PAYE duties: Homestay Hosting Level 3 teaches them.
• The Modified Taxation Scheme taxes small businesses with yearly turnover from GH¢20,001 up to GH¢750,000 at 3% of turnover. Esi's year is well inside that band (example). A business registered for VAT cannot use the scheme.
• VAT: under the VAT Act 2025 (Act 1151), there is no registration threshold for taxable services. Whether short-stay accommodation is taxable or exempt was not verified. Ask the GRA in writing before you start, and keep the answer.
• The data protection fee is the GH¢156 small-controller fee spread over 12 months, in case the DPC says a homestay must register.
• The 1% levy, if it applies, is not in this sheet: it is the guest's money passing through (Unit 3).
• The profit of GH¢7,433.62 is before Esi pays herself and her family for their own work. Count your own hours; a "profit" that only exists because the family works for nothing is a warning sign.

The key measures for November. Occupancy 37.8%; average rate per room-night sold GH¢350; room income per available room-night GH¢132.22 (Unit 3). If Esi can raise occupancy to 50% with more study groups, her room income at the same rate would be 45 × 350 = GH¢15,750.

Who else may charge you? A hotel owners' leader listed the charges hotels face in 2026, including GTA, EPA, FDA, Assembly, Fire Service, SSNIT, data protection, property rates and a music licence body (GHAMRO). Use it as a checklist of whom to ask, not as a list you must all pay. Whether each applies to a family home stay was not verified. (The COVID-19 levy he mentioned was abolished from January 2026.)

Price check. No official survey of Ghana homestay prices was found. Booking-site snapshots showed guest houses in Accra and Takoradi at about US$33 to 41 a night, some as low as about US$16 to 29, and budget rooms at Busua and Butre at about US$24 to 50. These are not rules. Price from your own costs, and remember the GTA approves a home stay's daily charge.

Business ideas for a Level 2 homestay

Accessibility: welcome every guest

Ghana's Persons with Disability Act 2006 (Act 715) expects places that serve the public to be accessible. L.I. 2239's rule on accessible rooms in star-rated hotels does not apply to a home stay, so for you accessibility is good practice under Act 715, not a separate home-stay rule. The UN Tourism manual on accessible tourism asks that staff serve persons with disabilities courteously and give complete, accurate access information.

Adjustments that help (course advice, with sources where given):

Hosts with disabilities can run a homestay. Many host tasks do not need heavy lifting: taking bookings and answering WhatsApp, keeping the diary and the money book, welcoming guests and giving the house rules talk, storytelling, teaching cooking or crafts, writing the listing and answering reviews, and running the self-check. Family or a paid helper can do heavy cleaning, carrying water and laundry. A deaf host can lead a written or visual welcome and a craft session. A host who uses a wheelchair can run the business from the ground floor. Ask your district Assembly about support from its disability fund; the share and the process were not verified here.

Check yourself

1. Name three ways a homestay can benefit the community besides a village fund.
2. What tax does a small homestay under the Modified Taxation Scheme pay, and on what?
3. Give two adjustments for a deaf guest.

1. Under L.I. 2239, which meal must a home stay provide, and who approves its daily charge?
2. What are the five stages of the guest journey?
3. When must a homestay use a licensed guide?
4. Name the four Five Keys numbers for temperature and time.
5. Give three of the six allergy-control steps.
6. Under Auntie Esi's policy, a guest who booked 2 nights at GH¢350 cancels 10 days before arrival. How much of the deposit is refunded?
7. What do you write in the register about a Ghana Card, and what must you never do with it?
8. A homestay with 3 rooms sells 36 room-nights in a 30-night month at GH¢300. What are the occupancy and the room income per available room-night?
9. A Booking.com booking is worth GH¢1,200 in room income, with 15% commission. What does the host keep?
10. What does L-A-S-T stand for, and what two steps does a homestay add?
11. A criterion has 10 items, 2 NA and 6 Yes, with a weighting of 20%. What is its score?
12. Name two tasks a host with a disability can lead, and one adjustment for a deaf guest.

Best next reads: L.I. 2239 (the accommodation regulations, especially the Third Schedule, Form B and Form D) on the GTA website; the ASEAN Homestay Standard handbook; the WHO Five Keys to Safer Food manual; the FDA guideline for licensing food service establishments; the Data Protection Commission website; Tour Guiding and Community Homestay Level 2 for L-A-S-T and benefit-sharing.

What this module does not cover: the GTA licence fee and the full licence file (Level 3); company registration, SSNIT, PAYE and bookkeeping (Level 3); running several rooms or a village network of homes (Level 3); hotel-style housekeeping and front desk (Hospitality Services); a first-aid certificate; an FDA Food Hygiene Permit application in full; pest control with chemicals (use a licensed service).

Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.