Akwasi Agyeman
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and players in the hospitality industry in the Central Region have expressed their preparedness to host the 65th Independence Day anniversary with a promise to give guests “a rich experience”.
They indicated that tourist sites, hotels and guest houses in the region were leveraging and building drive from the success of the National Farmers’ Day celebration held in Cape Coast last year.
Mr. Kwame Gyasi, the Regional Director of GTA touted their readiness at a stakeholder’s meeting with some hoteliers in Cape Coast on Tuesday.
The meeting focused on how the industry could ready itself for the March 6th celebration and beyond, while identifying and offering solutions to some grey areas in the hospitality sector.
The activities for the two-week Independence Day Celebration as well as some programmes of the GTA aimed at driving domestic tourism during and after the period were also laid on the table for discussion.
The 65th Independence Day Celebration on the theme: “Working Together, Bouncing Back Better” will be the third to be hosted outside Accra after the Northern and Ashanti regions.
It will be graced by Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados as the Special guest of honour, the President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs and other high-profile personalities, representatives of the CSOs and other dignitaries.
Mr. Gyasi called on the hoteliers to position themselves to embrace the opportunity in order to attract repeated visits which he added was the engine of the industry.
“For us at GTA, we are responsible for tourism promotion and development that is why we wanted to go the extra mile. I believe all the institutions are doing their part but the ultimate responsibility lies with us. This is just to spur us on,” he said.
Mr. Emmanuel Lawer, the Principal Standards and Quality Assurance Officer of GTA, urged hotels to train their staff to be on top of business, while ensuring a clean environment.
“Without clean environment, you don’t have any business doing in the hospitality sector. As much as possible, let us keep every department clean,” he stressed.