Tourism enterprises urged to give customer service a priority  

By Hafsa Obeng/Lawrencia Mensah, GNA  

Accra, Sept 26, GNA- Professor Gabriel Eshun, Technical Advisor, Ghana Tourism Development Project, has urged Ghanaians to give customer service a priority in their enterprises in order to succeed.  

He said since the success or failure of every firm rested entirely on its customers, it was, therefore, imperative that customers were put at the centre of everything.  

Prof Eshun was speaking at a customer service training programme organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and Ghana Tourism Development Project for private sector tourism practitioners in Accra.  

He said the programme was to allow private sector tourism practitioners to enhance their capacity to improve upon service delivery at their various facilities, thus boosting domestic tourism.   

According to Prof. Eshun, the Ministry had been receiving comments regarding businesses in the country, including hotels and other businesses, and this was what led to the development of the customer service training.  

He noted that the training programme would also provide them with the capacity to do better in customer service delivery.  

“In as much as customer service is being prioritized, we must not lose sight of the fact that whatever is being done is intended to help build wealth, optimize it, and please its constituents at the same time,” Prof Eshun said.  

Mrs Linda Wayoe, Member of the UK Advisory Board, said social media was a powerful tool that helped customers make or break a business.  

She said that a firm’s success or failure was not just dependent on word of mouth from customers, saying service was “a whole journey and doesn’t end when the product is delivered to the customers.”  

“The customer experience is right from before they even buy the product. So, before the customer buys the products, they check your websites, how user-friendly the website is before they come in,” she said.  

Mrs Wayoe said the training programme was designed to share some tools that business owners could implement to help improve their customer service delivery.  

“Even if you don’t have any employees and you are self-employed, a sole proprietor, you can as well apply to yourself because if you’re a business leader, you have to be a role model,” she added.  

She stated that a question-and-answer session would be included in the training where pressing concerns pertaining to people’s businesses would be addressed.  

Mrs Wayoe urged participants to take advantage of the training to improve their businesses and boost domestic tourism.   

GNA