By Hafsa Obeng
Accra, March 8, GNA – Mr Emmanuel Frimpong, Tourism Consultant and Analyst, Pishon Consult Limited, has said that tourist arrivals for “December in GH” would exceed its target if all sectors support the activities of the tourism sector.
He said, “all sectors of the economy are in one way or the other connected to tourism and they must realize this connection and do everything in their capacity to support and promote the industry to create wealth, employment and opportunities for people.”
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, on Friday, in Accra, Mr Frimpong said over the years, “December in GH” had proven to be a successful event, and one that has the potential of attracting over one million people if all ministries, departments and agencies come on board, with the needed resources.
He said, “If you look at the numbers that came in last year within a matter of a month or six weeks, we had over 90,000 people coming into the country, and this means that the benefits are enormous.”
Mr Frimpong noted that various groups of people come into the country during that time, including those who come to identify investment opportunities or to invest, others who come to look at opportunities to relocate and get partners, others who come to buy properties, establish businesses and employ people and this has its own benefit for the country.
There are others who come with some level of expertise to impact into the local communities and leave that knowledge behind, and all these must be considered in planning of the “December in GH” events, in order to acquire the maximum benefit for the country.
“The “December in GH” initiative is a wonderful one and has been successful over the years, however, it has been characterized with various challenges that need to be addressed, to improve upon them in the coming years.”
The Consultant said some of the challenges include late planning of events, limited facilities and equipment, unlicensed events, and security arrangement.
“Most of the planning for the whole events starts later in the year, however for such an initiative, the planning should start earlier in the year to allow for all who intent to organise events to start engaging the secretariat to begin conversations, so that by June they start working towards them.”
Mr Frimpong noted that even though there were events organised across the country, most of the big events were centered in Accra within specific localities, and this deprived people in other parts of the country the experience as well as causes congestion and traffic in the capital.
“Security arrangement must be foremost in planning. Security apparatus must be engaged early enough to plan and have necessary measures in place to address any unforeseen circumstances.”
He appealed to government to partner the private sector to train and build the capacities of industry players in specific areas, including engineering, set up, among others to help organise successful events that meet international standards.
“Opportunities must also be created for event organizers to make it more comfortable for them to do their business, because the benefits are enormous for the country, especially in income generation, job creation, and investment in all areas.”
GNA