The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has said the poor level of data collection in Ghana’s tourism industry is negatively affecting the level of investment into the sector.
Tourism currently ranks as Ghana’s 4th highest foreign exchange earner after gold, cocoa, and oil.
Speaking to Citi Business News on the sidelines of the launch of the 2018 Guest Experience Masters (GEM) Awards, the CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyemang said accurate data for Ghana’s Tourism Industry will help attract much needed investment into the sector.
“If we can’t measure, we can’t improve, if we can’t monitor we can’t improve. If you look at for example tourism arrivals, for the most part and for a very long time we have been using projections. Once we are able to gather data we would be able to track progress, and input into governments policy framework. With enough data we can justify why investors should put up specific infrastructure in specific areas.”
Highlighting the different ways reliable data could boost activities in the industry, Mr. Akwasi Agyemang stated that investors will always want to predictability before they put their monies in businesses.
“We should be able to provide the numbers when it comes to traffic to tourist sites across the country. We need to know the numbers. Data going forward for us is critical. We’ve made some investments to help us better collect data. We’ve acquired some software, as well as some machines that will help our people collect data. So you wouldn’t see a lot of the manual paper data collection that was done in the past. We are now going digital,” he assured.
Commenting on the GEM Awards ceremony, the GTA CEO described the awards as a welcome addition to the awards ceremonies within the tourism space.
The awards ceremony which will be used to celebrate excellence in Ghana’s hospitality industry, is expected to come off on November 9, 2018.
About the GEM Awards
The Guest Experience Masters awards (GEM Awards 2018) will be an excellent representation of the niche international hospitality industry in Ghana and eventually the rest of Africa.
The awards will reveal and recognize some of the most dynamic individuals and teams who are carving the industry’s growing landscape (be it in a hotel, restaurant or spa).
The ‘GEMS’ will be awarded uniquely based on feedback from staying guests in the form of verified online reviews, direct booker feedback and peer nominations. The awards will also feature 22 categories, including but not limited to, Rising Star Award, Outstanding GEM Hotel 2018, and Best Dressed Hotel among others.
Source: citibusinessnews.com
