By Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Accra, Nov. 3, GNA-Tourism Industry players in the West African region together and the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), have appointed a Ghana Tourism Ambassador to help promote intra-African tourism travel and trade.
The Ambassador, Mr Ahmed Naaman, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Dodi Travel and Tours would lead the campaign “Destination West Africa Project (DWAP)” to break the barriers that impede investments, travels, and tourism boost.
Mr Naaman would also team up with some players in Ghana and others to drive traffic and expand the West African tourism market as tourism receipts in 2019, were higher as a percentage of GDP in Eastern and Southern Africa (4.5% and 3% respectively) than in West Africa (2.1%).
The Ambassador was unveiled and presented with a certificate in a short ceremony organised by Goge Africa, GTA, Dodi Travels and Tours and supported by Standard Travel and Tour in Accra.
Goge Africa is a pan-African tourism and cultural programme that promotes tourism, culture trade and investment opportunities since 1999.
In his acceptance message, Mr Ahmed Naaman, said, “I want to thank Goge Africa for the confidence reposed in me and the honour bestowed on me, and we will make sure that we engage other West African colleagues to drive this agenda”.
“We share the same dream, and I would use this opportunity and ability to work with my team to promote my country Ghana and West Africa,” he said.
Mr Isaac Moses, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Goge Africa, said the task for the Destination West Africa Project was to whip up the interest of West Africans in exploring the tourism potential of the sub-region to create economic value and jobs.
He said it had been observed that West Africans do not travel within the ECOWAS communities largely due to data connectivity, not many airlines available to different regions in West Africa and people found it expensive travelling within West Africa.
“They would rather go to Dubai because Dubai is quite cheap and there are a lot of airlines and on top of that Dubai tourism makes consented efforts to promote their tourism here particularly to Nigerians,” Mr Moses said.
The CEO said it was West Africans pulled the breaks on the quantum of money that left the shores of the sub-region because member States had not harnessed fully the tourism potential they had.
The Destination West Africa Project was launched in September this year with the aim of improving intra-African Travel and Trade through promotion of tourism and lowering of barriers that impede inter-connectivity, especially in West Africa
Its focus and activities would last for a proposed threes years of which it would be reviewed; the project is supported by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Days for subsequent tours to other ECOWAS countries would be published on the DWAP website.
GNA