By: Kobina Baidoo
Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal has labelled domestic tourism as a major revenue generator for Ghana.
He made his remark while delivering a keynote address at the honorary edition of the Ghana Tourism Awards which was held at the Accra International Conference Centre.
Dr. Awal commended the Ghana Tourism Authority for the efforts made in making Ghana a globally recognized tourism destination. He added that Ghanaians are seeing the benefits of tourism for the nation and are gradually making tourism a national asset. “A lot of hard work has been invested into getting us where we are today; I commend the Ghana Tourism Authority for the exceptional efforts made in making Ghana the number one tourism destination globally; The people of Ghana who are also seeing the impact of tourism have made Ghana welcoming to tourists from all over the world.”
Despite the tremendous strides being made by the tourism sector of Ghana, the minister noted that there is more work to be done in the country. He disclosed that there are a few lapses within the tourism sector, which he outlined as poor customer service and the lack of attractive packages to promote domestic tourism.
He highlighted that poor customer service stymies the efforts being made by the Ghana Tourism Authority and other stakeholders to keep Ghana at the pedestal of excellence with regards to tourism. “Going forward, next year there are two things that I want to urge everybody to do; the first is to fight against lack of customer orientation on our people; this does not only stand as a big problem in the hospitality and tourism industry but we are very important of bringing tourists into the country within and outside so I urge all stakeholders to wage a war against poor customer service; it will not be tolerated.
Also, he believes that the employment of attractive tourism packages by tour operators will make tourism appealing to private and public organizations within the country. “Tour operators in the incoming year should have good attractive packages so that organizations within the public and private sector will encourage their people to visit tourist attractions; Tour operators please bring about some price reduction for the tourists and hotels as well.”
He put these forward as plans to be executed in 2024 and called on all Ghanaians to engage in tourism to generate revenue for the country not only in the festive season, but all year round. “We have money in Ghana, let’s make the money, we don’t have to wait for people to come from outside.”
The Honorary Edition of the Ghana Tourism Awards, themed, ‘Celebrating 50 years of Ghana’s Tourism Excellence’ doubled as the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Ghana Tourism Authority. Formerly known as Ghana Tourism Board, the Ghana Tourism Authority proudly marked 50 years of gradually changing the narrative regarding Tourism in Ghana and climbs it’s way up to becoming a globally recognized epitome of the Ghanaian heritage and rich African Culture.