The Ghana Tourism Authority has unveiled a new app, the visitGhana app, which is set to revolutionize Ghana’s tourism sector serving as a convergence for all tourism operations in Ghana.
The visitGhana App is a part of the National Tourism Destination Single Window Project dedicated to streamlining the services and operations of Ghana’s tourism sector.
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The visitGhana App according to the Ghana Tourism Authority will enhance service quality across the tourism value chain and bring service providers and customers into one marketplace.
At a brief ceremony to officially launch the visitGhana App, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Kwasi Agyemang, explained the project was motivated, predominantly, by lack of innovation in Ghana’s tourism sector. This according to Mr. Agyemang was identified through a project launched by the GTA to ascertain the level of technology infiltration into Ghana’s tourism industry.
In narrating the events leading to their findings Mr. Agyeman disclosed that almost 50% of tourism operators the project team engaged had no computer, scanner, or printer and thus conducted all their tourism-related activities manually.
It was also found, Mr. Agyemang further shares, that most local tourism operators had not listed their services and products on well-known global platforms and were lagging behind in terms of reach and patronage.
The above-identified issues, according to Mr. Agyemang birthed the idea of developing an app to leverage on the existing telecoms infrastructure – internet and mobile money payment systems, as well as give local tourism operators in Ghana the platform to market their products and services to the global tourism customer base.
The platform, according to Mr. Agyemang is robust enough to accommodate as many local operators as possible. There is availability for service providers to have their microsites and advertise their products and services.
He thus implored tourism service providers to sign on and exploit all the available opportunities to ensure business growth.
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The National Tourism Destination Single Window Project, which is a brainchild of the GTA is also aimed at, among other things, enhancing the tourism levy collection process to raise the needed funding for destination marketing, capacity building, and infrastructural projects.
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The launch of the visitGhana App which happened today 11th July, 2021 at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra, was graced by the Minister and Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Awal Mohammed and Mark Okaraku Mantey respectively, some members of the Diplomatic Corps, and key industry representatives and players.
The visitGhana App is now available on Google Play and App Store.
Sefah-Danquah S.