Tourist players urged to be innovative

Accra, Jan 25, GNA - Mr Kofi Osei Ameyaw, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, on Friday urged players in the tourism industry to adopt unique strategies that would enable the country attain its vision of becoming a preferred tourist destination. He said considering the increasing competitiveness in the tourist sector today, duplicated programmes and strategies of other countries would not take the country far.

Mr Osei Ameyaw who made the call at the 2007 Annual Staff Awards of the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) in Accra, said the contribution of staff were key to development of the sector. He entreated the staff to continue to work hard to attain greater heights and pledged the Ministry's support to improve conditions of service for staff and provide more resources to help the Board perform better.

Mr Martin Mireku, Acting Executive Director, GTB, said although year 2007 was challenging, management and staff of the Board strived to work harder in the absence of adequate resources.

He said the development of an organizational charter by government to measure service delivery and improve efficiency demanded that the staff go the extra mile to realize set targets of the Board. "I believe that in every human endeavour there are bound to be challenges, but these should be used as a spring board for growth", he said, adding that scarcity of resources should not be the excuse for unsatisfactory performance.

Mr Mireku congratulated the award winners and encouraged other staff to strive hard to also win awards in subsequent years. Ms Joyce Gawu, Senior Resource Officer, GTB, Volta Region was adjudged the overall best worker. She received a medium size refrigerator in addition to citation, certificate and a CD player.

Ms Margaret Akuoko, Senior Department Assistant, Mr. James Mensah, Chief Driver, Mr. Issah Iddrisu, Messenger, Mr. Alfred Asumadu, Marketing Officer and Ms Robert Mprah, Quality Assurance Officer were also awarded for their meritorious service. Awards were presented to other staff in the regions. 25 Jan 08