Ghana urged to promote tourism to attract more visitors
The Regional Head of South Africa Tourism, West Africa, Mr Thekiso Rakalojane, has urged Ghana to take concrete steps to promote tourism in order to attract more tourists from across Africa and beyond.
He said even though tourists who visited Ghana from South Africa had seen dramatic improvement in tourism over the last few years, Ghana needed to do more to maximise its full tourism potential.
“Ghana tourism is really doing some amazing work in South Africa. In the sense that they are actually promoting Ghana to South Africans. This year I have a lot of friends that are coming for the Afrofuture event.
But I do believe there is a lot more that can be done to promote Ghana to South Africans because South Africans really love the history behind Ghana,” Mr Rakalojane emphasised.
He made the call at a corporate networking event, organised under the auspices of South African High Commissioner, Ms Jeanet Grace Mason, at her official residence in Accra, last Thursday.
The event which was attended by players of industry, hoteliers, members of the diplomatic community, business owners, and members of creative arts, was held with support from the South African Tourism Agency, to build business network and also promote South Africa to Ghanaians.
Mr Rakalojane said Ghana had a unique selling point beyond the forts and castles, which could be exploited to drive home Ghana as a major destination on the continent, however this would require a high level of focus.
“South Africans really love the history behind Ghana. I came to Ghana, my first trip was in 2014. I fell in love. I went and I saw the castles. I went and I saw the history. I went and for me, it’s something that any African has to visit Ghana to understand and know the depth of history and what humanity and the hardship that Ghana went through,” he stated.
Mr Rakalojane said in the spirit of cooperation, the doors of South Africa were opened for business especially conferencing and leisure.
He noted that tourist arrival from Ghana over the last five or so years had increased by more than 300 per cent, demonstrating the love Ghanaians have for South Africa.
“One thing that we do at South African Tourism is we are very intentional about inviting people to South Africa and that is why today we are here to say, we are talking to Ghanaian businesses.
“This is not about leisure. We are not talking about taking family to South Africa. We are saying to Ghanaian businesses, come and have your conference in South Africa,” Mr Rakalojane said.
The South African High Commissioner to Ghana, Ms Jeanet Grace Mason, said the waiver of visa by both Ghana and South Africa, had become an important factor in promoting business between the two countries.
She said Ghana remained a very important partner to South Africa and the two countries would continue to partner for the development of their respective countries.
Ms Mason urged Ghanaian businesses to take advantage of the prevailing conditions and visit South Africa business especially in the area of tourism.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
