The Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is collaborating with the Spanish Government through the Embassy of Spain in Ghana to provide training for various industry players.
The aim of the five-day training is to build the capacities of stakeholders to sharpen their skills in providing quality service with the ultimate aim of making the country a competitive destination for tourists.
To formally commence the training today, September 5 a brief ceremony was held today at the Accra Tourist Information Centre (ATIC).
Minister of Tourism Arts and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal said that government is committed to improving the face of tourism through constant training and capacity building of industry service providers.
This he noted, was important to building the Ghana brand and that “the Ghana brand should be the most attractive in West Africa.”
The trainer of trainees programme, the Minister disclosed is targeted at 2,000 people in the next few months with 30,000 tourism, hospitality, arts, culture and related stakeholders targeted by end of 2024.
The training modules, Dr. Awal also stated would cover areas such as, finance, access to loans, book keeping, entrepreneurship among others and all is in line with the country’s target of over two million tourists by 2024.
Spanish Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Javier Gutiérrez revealed that the training was coming on the back of an engagement held with the Tourism Minister a year ago where he expressed interest in deepening collaboration with Ghana, especially, through tourism. He indicated that he was aware of how important tourism is to Ghana for which reason they were delighted to be helping train those engaged in it.
The Ambassador expressed hope that, through the training, stakeholders would be able to learn from the Spanish model as they become “ambassadors to create wealth and bring development to people.” H.E. Gutiérrez added that they hope to help Ghana through such training programmes to create one million jobs in tourism and its sub-sectors.
At the behest of the Royal Spanish Embassy, a consultant from Spain and a team from the Canary Islands will be facilitating the training programme involving representatives from the Ghana Tourism Federation, Hotels Association of Ghana, Tour Operators Union of Ghana, Tour Guides Association of Ghana, Tourism Society of Ghana and the creative arts industry among the others.
CEO of Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyeman emphasizing the importance of the training stated that the encompassing nature of it will ensure that stakeholders from the three arms of the ministry; namely, tourism, arts and culture will have their skills improved to provide excellent service which is much needed to make the country’s tourism attractive.
By: Samuel Obeng Appah
