The Tour Operators’ Union of Ghana (TOUGHA) has firmed up its partnership with South Africa Tourism (SAT) with a day’s business dialogue event.
The event which was held at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra yesterday, March 8 had in attendance TOUGHA members, officials from SAT- West Africa, both public and private industry stakeholders including personnel from Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Heads of Trade Associations, Ghana Tourism Authority and the Ghana Tourism Development Company.
South Africa’s High Commissioner to Ghana, H.E. Grace Jeanet Mason who also graced the occasion commended the two entities for taking steps to forge closer ties and pledged her support.
President of TOUGHA, Mrs. Alisa Osei-Asamoah said the business event was to concretize the existing relationship her outfit and SA Tourism have had over the years.
She stated: “Today’s business dialogue, which is under the theme “Exploring Opportunities for Travel and Tourism Business in the Midst of a Pandemic” is further testament of the strength of the progressive partnership and collaboration between TOUGHA and SA Tourism and our earnest determination to contribute to the establishment of a sustainably congenial environment for our industry to thrive.”
In the current fluid tourism environment, the TOUGHA President postulated that collaborations are crucial to ensuring that the sector works for all engaged in it.
“Indeed, we need to work together to explore and identify our comparative advantages which can be knit together into a formidable competitive advantage that can be deployed to boost our resilience in a hostile environment as shown by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy as a whole and the travel and tourism industry, in particular. We cannot afford to do business as usual by operating in our respective silos anymore,” Mrs. Osei-Asamoah emphasized.
The team from SAT led by its West Africa Manager, Thekiso Rakolojane and Trade Relations Manager, Mohammed Tanko Kwajaffa made extensive presentations on Destination South Africa and opportunities for tour operators to maximize their business through close collaboration with SAT.
The duo touched on new destination offerings, revised protocols, the upcoming Africa Travel Indaba which they urged operators to attend among others, including the SA Specialist –an interactive online learning programme designed to improve operators’ knowledge of South Africa.
A panel of four discussed, “Exploring Opportunities for Travel and Tourism Business in the Midst of a Pandemic.” Members included Ekow Sampson, Deputy CEO, Operations, Ghana Tourism Authority, Prof. Issahaku Adams, Head, Department of Tourism, University of Cape Coast, Dr. Kobby Mensah, Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana Business School and Regina Hammond, a SheTrades Consultant.
Other highlights of the business dialogue were presentations by Alice Mensah on Digital Marketing and Country Manager of South African Airways, Gloria Wilkinson Mensah on the resumption of operations of the airline and their new offerings.
Manager of Labadi Beach Hotel, David Eduaful was full of praise for TOUGHA for initiating the event to further strengthen their partnership with SA Tourism and assured his outfit’s full backing.
A raffle was held where two patrons won a weekend for two at the Labadi Beach Hotel, with a TOUGHA member also winning a ticket to travel to South Africa.
The TOUGHA Business Dialogue event was moderated by ace broadcaster and tourism expert, Gilbert ‘Abeiku Santana’ Aggrey.
