Ghanaian hotels gears up for golden jubilee

Accra, Jan. 12, GNA - About 50 days to the climax of the national golden jubilee celebration, most Ghanaian hoteliers and other operatives in the hospitality industry are feverishly preparing to make the best out of the occasion.

However those in Accra are not too happy with the work of Secretariat in-charge of the anniversary celebrations.


"Most stakeholders, especially we in the hospitality industry still do not have a tentative schedule of events, who is in charge of what, where and when events will take place.


"We are completely in the dark, struggling to figure out something with the hope that it may feed into the national programme when it is eventually out," Ms Shirley Afriyie, Acting General Manager of M'Plaza Hotel told the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Friday.


ROYALE Hotel and others hotels in the metropolis to find out the level of preparedness; booking formalities; logistical arrangements and other programmes to promote the golden jubilee celebration.


Ms Afriyie urged the Ghana@50 Secretariat to immediately come out with a tentative programme for the event, which should detail the general perspective of the celebration.

"We need to know the programme ahead of time and prepare to meet any operational challenges, in terms of personnel training, acquisition of exterior and interior decorations in national colours, and other general arrangements to portray the rich national identity," she said. Ms Afriyie, who is also the Night Manager of the Hotel, noted;


"we need to inject traditionalism into the local hospitality industry, especially during the period, but we are handicapped by the lack of information.


At the Hotel Shangri-La, Mr Mohinani Suresa, the General Manager provided the GNA with an elaborate arrangement to ensure that guests, especially those who will be patronising the hotel during the period to enjoy the season.


He said: 93all our rooms are fully booked for March the anniversary month to mid-April and we are taking advantage of the likely inflow of visitors to package more traditional focus activities for our clients".


Mr Suresa said one key way of achieving this was to regularly update and review standards to keep the hotel's operation in line with the national commitment to encourage and promote the rich Ghanaian culture, traditions and art works.

Mr. Suresa said the management of the hotel had also instituted on the job training of staffs to inject new dynamism in service delivery, which had been a major bane of the Ghanaian hospitality industry.


"We also seek to improve quality and standards at all times to meet international specifications and thereby, attract more tourists," he added.


The Hotel Shangri-La General Manager however, called on government to support investments in tourism infrastructure for the development, promotion and marketing of historical, cultural, recreational, and eco-tourism across the country.


Mr Suresa said the hotel management had made it a policy that during the period all staffs would wear traditional cloths of various tribes across the country, adding, 93we are taking advantage to market Ghana."


Mr Adrian Landriy General Manager, La Beach Hotel said: 93We are getting ready for the event to make Ghana proud and confirm the general perception of the 93noble Ghanaian Hospitality."

"We have introduced new standards and improve upon our customer relations, service delivery and other practices that are tailored to project Ghana, its products, people and norms."


Mr Landriy suggested to the Ghana@50 Secretariat to liaise with the hospitality industry for the establishment of a Golden Jubilee Information Desk at all hotels, joints and night clubs to be equipped with general information on the programme and tourist sites in the country.


Information should be available and accessible to all visitors at every vantage point to ensure that guests were not left in a limbo. He also urged "policy-makers and operators in the tourism industry to inject dynamism into the standards of quality of products and service to propel the sector forward, especially during the festive period. Mr Jacob Dodoo, Front Office Manager of Fiesta ROYALE Hotel told the All the hotels visited outlined strict security arrangements to protect guest and other visitors, keep off prostitutes and generally make clients comfortable in Ghana and also provide hospitable services of the highest standard with a blend of authentic African tradition, music and culture.