The captivating nature of Ghana’s tourism has heralded the country as one of the greatest tourist destinations around the world as international media has captured the success stories of Ghana’s strategy to promote its tourism.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority highlights the four main reasons why tourism is putting Ghana on the map like never before.
In an exclusive interview on Happy 98.9FM’s ‘Happy Morning Show’, Akwasi Agyeman noted the factors, namely the introduction of a tourist website, marketing and promotions of the heritage sites, the ‘ghanagurus.com’ project and the peace and security in the country.
Commenting on the official tourist website, ’Visit Ghana’, he revealed that unlike before, all information on tourism in Ghana is organized on this website to allow tour operators or consultants guide tourists who wish to visit the country.
“Sometimes information for tour operators is scattered so it will be difficult to know what is in Ghana but now, all that information has been made available on the website and it is aggressively being pushed on the international scene, people regularly visit the website for information and that has really helped us”.
Akwasi Agyeman mentioned that despite some unfortunate historical moments such as the slave trade, relics of these incidents remind all about our rich history. He added that Ghana was privileged to have these relics as part of its tourist attraction and as such the Tourism Authority took advantage of these to highlight Ghana’s tourism.
“Studying the data, we observed that countries like the USA have been very strong markets for us. So we began to engage in exhibitions, fairs and conversations that went on in those areas. So for a program like ‘Year of Return’ when it was launched, we saw much more patronage from the USA.
One factor that helps Ghana’s tourism promotion are our heritage sites. For example, the relics of the unfortunate incident of the slave trade can be found here. These things, unfortunate as it may be, still remind them of their history. This has contributed to Ghana developing into a ‘Mecca’ for the African-American community”, he stated.
He furthered that the project by the Ghana Tourism Authority dubbed ‘Ghana Gurus’ is training many tourist operators with the skills to sell Ghana as the preferred tourism destination.
He explained, “When it comes to our conversation with the operators in the country, we have begun a project called the ‘ghanagurus.com’. We have explained the destinations to them. Previously, when someone asks for adventure, they believe East Africa with its wildlife sanctuaries is the only adventure spot on the continent. But they have understood that places like Mole, Kakum or Kintampo waterfall are all places of adventure. Other tourists opt for heritage, leisure or other forms of tourism. Thus far, we have customized and segmented our tourism very well. And that is very attractive to people”.
Speaking on the last factor, Akwasi Agyeman emphasized on the existing peace and security in the country that has contributed greatly to Ghana’s tourism sector.
“In every destination, an important thing is peace and security. Ghana being a peaceful destination has also helped. If you observe other countries, there may be some unrest that may affect their tourism. However, our country is peaceful and the people are very hospitable. So with this, when you visit certain tourism websites, the recommendations for Ghana is very good”.
The Ghana Tourism Authority under the Ministry of Tourism has over the years developed and promoted Ghanaian tourism through research and marketing among other things.
By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah
