The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has recently launched its official website: www.visitghana.com and a tourism call centre to promote Ghana’s tourism, domestically and internationally.
The website would highlight and project tourist attractions in Ghana, the hospitality sector, media relations, events and GTA’s contacts, while the call centre would receive complaints and enquiries about tourism in general.
MS Catherine Afeku, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture said the initiative of the GTA was a laudable one.
She said the GTA website would be used to market the African Tourism Leadership Forum, the 2018 World Tourism Day Celebration, the ‘fun and fly’ paragliding festival and the 2019 ‘Year of Return’ event.
Mrs. Afeku explained that the above events and several upcoming programmes, by the Ministry and the GTA, would contribute to the promotion and marketing of Ghana.
“With the competition to attract tourists to various destinations, the GTA is up to the task of aspiring to make Ghana the preferred destination,” she said.
She appealed to stakeholders, including the media, to support the endeavour to propagate Ghana’s tourism to enable the country to reap the necessary and desired benefits.
Chief Executive Officer of the GTA Mr Akwesi Agyeman, noted the authority is championing digital transformation within the industry with the launch of the website.
He said the launch of the website, would enable industry practitioners to access tourism information and to build on their services.
“We have also established a visitor and convention bureau, aimed at using the right language to be able to attract the business tourist that Ghana needs,” he said.
Mr. Agyemang said the Call Centre was basically meant to create an opportunity and avenue to collect feedback quickly, in real time, so that they could be acted on.
“The Call Centre at the back of the website is to bring us closer to the general public, including visitors, tourists and operators, among others, and serve as a one stop shop for calls,” he said.
Briefing the media on other upcoming activities of the GTA, he said the African Tourism Leadership Forum is a Pan –African dialogue platform that brings together key stakeholders from Africa’s travel, tourism, hospitality and aviation sectors to network.
It also serves as a platform to share insight and devise strategies for sustainable travel and tourism development across the continent, while enhancing Brand Africa equity.
The forum would be organized by the GTA in partnership with Africa Tourism Partners South Africa.
The Year of Return is the 2019 PANAFEST and Emancipation Day, which would mark 400 years of the abolition of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
It is also to encourage brothers and sisters of the African family to return to Ghana and for that matter Africa to invest and help develop their roots.
The United Nations World Tourism Day is also celebrated annually to highlight the potentials of tourism as a valuable source of livelihood for millions in the world at large.
Mr. Agyeman said a niche paragliding festival for corporate bodies, dubbed “fun and fly,” would be organised in Kwahu to coincide with the 2018 World Tourism Day celebration in September.
By Wisdom Jonny-Nuekpe
