“We are looking forward to the President-elect to appoint the right people, who have insight in the tourism and hospitality industry, who are passionate and dedicated and not focused on satisfying the political powers. Experts from the academia and industry who can contribute, irrespective of their political divide should be invited to help,” he said.
Mr Frimpong, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said, “The President must also involve community leaders, chiefs, municipal and district assemblies in tourism and hospitality governance structure so that we can all achieve the common goal and attract investment into the sector.”
He said technically a change in governance should not necessarily bring a lot of change, because Ghana operated a
system, where governance was continual.
“But unfortunately, we live in a society where when there is a new government a lot of things change,” he added.
He said the incoming government must maintain and review some of the initiatives that the outgoing government brought in the sector because there were several challenges with the implementation.
The Consultant said to improve the tourism sector, the NDC government must focus on regular and collaborative meetings with the tourism stakeholders to discuss industry trends, challenges, threats, opportunities, nuisance taxes and levies impacting negatively on the industry and action taken to support its growth.
“The government must also implement the E-Visa application that allows travelers to apply visas electronically rather than physically visiting an embassy or consulate. This is convenient, time saving, increases efficiency and enhances security,” he said.
Mr Frimpong, who is also the Founding President, Africa Tourism Research Network and CEO, Pishon Consult, said as a matter of priority the government must adopt visa free for some selected destinations.
“The government can start with the top ten destinations to Ghana’s top source markets whose citizens require visas to visit Ghana, and this will make it easy for tourists to visit
Ghana at any time of the year and control over-tourist,” he said.
He said there must also be comprehensive domestic tourism promotion through well thought through government initiatives, using different and varied marketing and promotion strategies, strengthening of community-based tourism promotion, promotion of special flagship events and festivals and training and capacity building of the employees in the sector.
He stated that the government must also speed up the implementation of the National Tourism Development Plan, which was supposed to outline clear objectives, strategies, and initiatives to promote tourism in Ghana, but has been on the drawing board for years.
“They must ensure the Plan is developed with the proper collaboration with stakeholders from the private sector, local communities, and government agencies,” he added.
Mr Frimpong said the government must upgrade and expand existing tourism infrastructures to attract more investors to build hotels and other facilities to accommodate increasing tourist numbers.
He said they must encourage eco-friendly and responsible tourism practices that minimize the sector’s impact on the environment, enhance visitor experience by focusing on creating memorable and authentic experiences for tourists, and creating a unique and compelling brand identity that
showcases Ghana’s tourism offerings.
“By focusing on these key areas, the government can help drive growth, development, and sustainability in the tourism sector,” he said.
GNA
