Tourism to create 1m jobs in 4 years

• Posted on July 13, 2021July 13, 2021
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Minister declares as he launches VisitGhana app
 
 The Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed  Awal has launched the VisitGhana app, an all-in-one app and platform to enhance service quality across the tourism value chain by bringing service providers and customers to one marketplace.  

The VisitGhana app is part of the National Tourism Destination Single Window project, with the overarching goal of streamlining the services and operations of Ghana’s tourism sector. 
Dr Awal said under the country’s new tourism drive, the ministry was aiming at creating one million jobs between now and 2024, but that could only be achieved if the tourism value chain actors up their game and become ambitious.
The Minister called on all value chain actors to have a new paradigm and a shift in their thinking, knowing that tourism was not a casual thing but a real business that needed to be given all the seriousness. 
He said: “We are going to train 10,000 operators within the value chain this year and early next year,” adding that there was the need to build the skills and competencies of the actors in the value chain towards ensuring that Ghana becomes the number one tourist destination in Africa.  
Dr Awal said the ministry is also going to engage hotel operators to make their signages bilingual, to enable the country to attract both francophones and anglophones, adding that “in future we will add Chinese, German and Spanish,” in a bid to become modern and competitive.
He noted that under the Ghana Cares programme, the ministry is getting GH¢100m, and a part of that would be used to improve attractions and make Ghana’s tourism sector competitive. 
The sector minister disclosed the ministry’s plan to train tourism entrepreneurs, who would not see tourism as a casual business, building opportunistic entrepreneurs who will be ambitious in their approach to the tourism business.
 He cited Rwanda and Kenya as having succeeded in making tourism the number one contributor to the economy, and promised that Ghana will do the same.
Dr Awal said in the last quarter of 2021, the country is expecting 250,000 visitors from America as part of the ‘Beyond the Return’ project. 
He urged the tourism value chain players to position themselves and treat them with the best customer service. 
“Let’s have internationally accepted standards and treat the visitors well, and that will make them come back again”, he said, while urging the value chain actors to take advantage of the mobile application to make their businesses visible to both local and international customers.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) , Mr Akwasi Agyeman said the VisitGhana app emerged from a countrywide research that was conducted by the ministry, which revealed that many operators did not have their business represented online. He noted that some operators did not even have computers that they operated with.
He, therefore, urged all operators in the tourism sector to sign onto the VisitGhana app and take advantage of the opportunities it presents. He also urged all and sundry to use the application to buy products and receive services from any part of the country.
Mr Agyeman said the National Tourism Destination Single Window Project has three modules, with each addressing identified needs in the industry. 
The first module focuses on enhancing the tourism levy collection process to raise needed funding for destination marketing, capacity building, and infrastructural projects. 
The second module aims at automating GTA processes and providing a seamless interface with relevant stakeholders while the third module targets the promotion of Ghana as an attractive tourism destination.  
The President of the Ghana Tourism Federation, Madam Bella Ahu urged all industry players, including hotels, restaurants and chop bar operators, among others, to sign up for the opportunity and go global. 
She said the ministry has done its best to provide the platform for the industry to market the services rendered and products on sale. What is left is for the industry to take advantage of the platform and pull tourists to their locations. 
Madam Ahu said, “We don’t want to market our products globally and provide local services”, adding that “as we go global, we need to bring our products up to speed to competitiveness”.

By Julius K. SATSI, Accra