By the industry, for the industry! – Tourism Stakeholder Mixer to strengthen Ghana’s economic cornerstone.   

Private sector practitioners in tourism on the freewheeling social media platform which educates, promotes, preserves and celebrate the diverse cultures and natural heritage of Ghana – the Ghana Tourism Forum – is marshalling to take a deep dive into the discipline of tourism at the first ever ‘Tourism Stakeholders Mixer’, which seeks to bring together some of the industry’s most prolific professionals to feed off insights and contributions.

PaJohn Dadson takes a close look at what this meeting that seeks open-up discussions and moderated by industry experts on specific topics aimed at promoting our country as a top tourist destination could offer. 

Professor Kwaku Boakye, Tourism Consultant and Vice Chancellor of the Cape Coast Technical University is expected as key speaker at this event that is bringing together public administrators and private sector practitioners in tourism as well as academia to forward dialogue on the future of tourism in Ghana.

Besides a significant human resource gap that has led to a shortage of trained personnel like tour guides, hospitality staff and skilled management who can impact service quality that pose serious questions to the sector – Ghana’s tourism industry – also faces several other challenges, including a lack of infrastructure and technology adoption that limit the quality of experience.

Workforce development, therefore, including ways of upscaling, retention and diversity creation, is a critical element for discussion and will feature prominently at the event which seeks to identify and debate solutions to the many issues confronting the sector. Along with sustainability, innovation and post-pandemic recovery are the other key areas that require acute attention.

The theme for the mixer is ‘Building a Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality Industry Together’.

CEO of Hausa Tours, Fuseini Nawaru, is the coordinator of the Ghana Tourism Forum platform, and lead convener for the ‘mixer’. “The ‘together’ part of the theme is very key to the message that we want to put across,” he emphasises.

‘Collaboration’ is a key component of sustainable development and going forward, encouraging policy-makers, industry leaders, investors and local communities to recognise this as having a vital role to play in promoting the industry is one of the reasons why the idea for the ‘mixer’ was mooted in the first place.

From eco-friendly and socially responsible tourism practices to enhancing competitiveness and resilience, the ‘mixer’ will seek to foster inclusive growth, ensuring equitable distribution of tourism benefits.

The challenges are, indeed, many. There is the daunting prospect posed by environmental damage with regards the negative impact of Galamsey.

Then the complex visa application processes that can deter potential tourists from visiting. In these days of the proliferation of social media, concerns high about crime and instability in certain regions impact tourist confidence. Competition from other destinations, like that currently arising with our neighbours in Nigeria who are kicking up the game for the ‘Detty December’ market.

There has never been a more urgent need for fully utilising digital platforms and online marketing tools to reach a wider audience, and that is another key area for critical dissecting.

As far back as 1942, two professors – Huziker and Krapf of the Beme University – defined tourism as “the sum total of phenomena and relationship arising from travel and stay of non-residents, in so far as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any earning activities”.

The key word in this definition is “relationship”, and over time, community engagement; that is, sufficiently involving local communities in tourism planning and development is paramount to the success of any potential growth.

The phenomenon has come a long way since. In Ghana, as in many other parts of the world, despite tourism being a vital contributor to national economic growth through various means – including cultural exchanges and job creation, particularly for youth and women, the challenges still persist. Hence, the need for this ‘mixer’ which is being executed “by the industry for the industry”

The sheer dynamics of the sector, its impact on environmental sustainability, economic volatility – among other factors – create major issues; and with all of Ghana’s local problems, tourism’s

issues and identified opportunities and needs will be tackled at this event which aims to unite key stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality value chain for strategic dialogue and collaboration.

President of African Tourism Research Network (ATRN), Emmanuel Frimpong, is the Planning Committee Lead for the ‘Tourism Stakeholder Mixer’. He says it will “run as a dialogue event, with expert-led panels on proposed themes”.

Other members of the Planning Committee are co-convener Samuel Obeng Appiah of VoyagesAfriq, Mr. Kwaku Passah Snr. of Exotic Adventures, Janice Tagoe of Janice Digital, Edith Pinaman of Ellevan Consult, Ms. Pam Abbey, PaJohn Dadson and Mr. David Eduaful of Labadi Beach Hotel.

The event, organised in partnership with African Tourism Research Network (ATRN) – a tourism and hospitality civil society think-tank that promotes responsible, ethical and sustainable tourism in Africa, is being executed in collaboration with Bentsifi – a media platform which works to stimulate travel through content curation, activating the patronage of what is inherently ours. Find Bentsifi every Friday in the Weekend edition of the Business & Financial Time newspaper.

The ‘Tourism Stakeholder Mixer’ is scheduled to take place on February 12 at the Conclave Meetings and Events Centre at Osu.

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