Takoradi, July 14, GNA, The Africa Tour Operators Alliance ( ATOA) has been launched in Takoradi with a call on stakeholders working in the Tourism Industry value chain to join the Alliance to champion the common interest of Tour Operators and other players in the Tourism Industry.
ATOA is an organization established in Ghana to create a united platform for a bigger voice and network in the tourism industry in Ghana and on the African continent.
Executive Director of ATOA, Lady Vera Metzler-Hinson implored the Travel and Tour Agencies in Ghana and Africa to join the organization for the collective experience and benefits members would share as they continue to play their respective roles to drive tourism development in Africa.
Ms Radia Adama Saani, Head of Corporate Affairs of ATOA, catalogued a number of opportunities members of ATOA could gain through partnerships in the wholesale of tour packages.
She explained that effective collaboration through lasting partnerships, acceptable synergies with neighbouring countries, and the quest to champion the common interest of members, strategically formed the core values and principal circumstances surrounding the establishment of the organization to drive tourism growth in Ghana and across Africa.
The Corporate Affairs Manager of Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr Jones Nelson, touched on the importance of facilitating regional and domestic tourism through alliances.
According to him, the tourism industry provided enormous opportunities and therefore needed to be embraced by industry players with beautiful initiatives to widen the scope of its contribution to national development and the economy of the country.
He stressed that travel and tour operators were the life-wire of the Tourism and Aviation industry and therefore needed financial support to boost the sector’s growth.
The Technical Head of ATOA, Mr Gideon Asare, said capacity building through periodic training and effective teamwork, driving the African agenda through tourism and leveraging individual strengths into useful partnerships, would translate the collective effort of industry players into results-oriented gains for the benefit of all members and the continent.
He added that the intention and purpose for the establishment of the organization, was primarily to unleash the potential of the Tourism industry in Africa in order to provide an avenue for challenges bedevilling African tour operators to be addressed.
This, he underscored, could be done through the setting up of management schemes, technical assistance and administrative guidance from experienced professionals to up and coming industry players.
The Events Organiser of ATOA, Mr Michael Ako Nai, unveiled a new tourism product onto the market, dubbed “Accra Night City Tour” and encouraged members to participate in the tour, so as to promote it as an additional domestic tour product in the Ghanaian market.
Representatives of Asky Airline and Air Cote D’Ivoire who graced the occasion pledged their commitment to support activities of the organization as they open up for new partnerships and collaborations in the tourism industry.
The Executive Director of Journalists For Tourism Advocacy (JTA) Mr Zambaga Rufai Saminu announced the relationship JTA intended to build with ATOA, using the media space as an anchor to drive the promotion and protection of tourism in the country and in Africa.
A celebrated media practitioner, tourism ambassador, and Chief Executive Officer of KAYA tours, Mr Aggrey Abeiku Santana, shared his experience in the tourism industry, the challenges impeding progress and what ought to be done to fix the challenges.
One of these challenges, he revealed as hurting the industry badly was the issue of lack of trust and betrayal among industry players and expressed the hope that it would be addressed through ATOA.
He also appealed to the government to pay attention to the tourism industry with adequate investment.
Mr Santana said the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and other bodies in charge of managing the fortunes of the industry, must channel resources into the right institutions and “stop throwing money” at people who did not actually contribute to the development, sustenance and growth of Ghana’s Tourism Industry.
GNA