The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) is implementing a one-stop shop to showcase the more than 2000 registered Ghanaian hotels and promote the country’s tourism sector on the world market.
The project forms part of the modules of the National Tourism Single Window Destination being executed to deepen public access to information on the country’s tourism profile in a broader perspective.
Mrs Catherine Afeku, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, said this in an address during a Hospitality Excellence Breakfast Meeting organised by the GTA in Accra on Tuesday.
It was to school key players in the tourism industry on the progress of the project and the way forward.
She said more than 60 per cent of the hotels in Ghana had poor online presence, which made them invisible in the world market, thereby, causing them to experience poor patronage.
Mrs Afeku said the project would give such hotels an adequate online presence and increase their marketability by creating a database to store their information and web portal to get them connected to visitors and tourists the world over. She added that the framework would also position Ghana on the forefront of the “the world’s competitive market” as the system would publicise the country’s rich tourist sites while displaying their quality standards.
“When Ghana is known for quality tourism, it would attract thousands of people to the country and create more avenue of income for the people,” Mrs Afeku said.
Mr Francis B. Gavor, the Business Development Manager of SGS, the project’s implementation leader, said the system would help the GTA to mobilise revenue for the development of the tourism sector by deploying mechanisms to enhance tourism levy collection.
He said it would connect all the stakeholders in the tourism industry and help them to interface electronically, while deploying strategies to ensure that the one per cent levy charged from tourism operators was paid and monitored.
It would also help in the issuance of certificates for tourism operations by automating registration and licensing processes and cut down delays and the challenges the operators went through when acquiring some significant documentation from the GTA.
“This will enhance tourism development and change the face of Ghana’s tourism for economic development,” he added.
As part of efforts to ensure the successful implementation of the project, a team of more than 13 personnel from key institutions in the tourism sector, including the SGS, GTA and the Tourism Ministry has been set up and charged to oversee the full execution of the project.
Mrs Afeku urged the team members, being led by Professor Kwaku Boakye, a Research Consultant at the University of Cape Coast, to work closely to ensure the smooth execution of the system.
Source: GNA
