‘Ghana’s tourism industry must be promoted’

Sunny Ahonsi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rising To Excellence (RisXcel) Limited, a UK-based management firm, has called on the government to promote the country’s tourism sector internationally.

According to him, there was the need for government to advertise the tourism sector in the international media to create awareness among potential tourist.

Mr. Ahonsi made the appeal on Thursday in Accra at a day’s workshop organized by his outfit in collaboration with the Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) under the theme: “Putting Ghana on the World Map of Tourism in the 21st Century.”

He stressed the need for government to consider organizing regular international exhibitions, as well as developing the country’s transport subsector to facilitate easy movement.

Mr. Ahonsi bemoaned the lack of promotion of Ghana as a tourist destination while making a SWOT analysis of Ghana’s tourism industry.

The CEO called for the immediate development of more human resources in the country’s tourism sector.

Commenting on internal issues affecting the sector, he noted that poor customer service and lack of training within the hospitality subsector were the major problems hampering the progress of Ghana’s tourism sector.

“97% of the problem we have is due to poor customer service,” he argued.

Furthermore, he claimed there was a lack of appreciation of the importance of tourism by government and Ghanaians at large.

Mr. Ahonsi called for the development of a long-term economic strategic plan that will contribute to tourism earnings in Ghana.

President of GHATOF, David Nana Anim, on his part, stated that the sector would only grow if there is an effective collaboration among key stakeholders within the sector.

He admitted that the challenges facing the tourism sector could be surmounted.

“The problems are numerous but the problems are not above us; together we can solve them,” he said.