Skål Ghana held its final meeting for the year at the Sun Lodge Hotel last Thursday, December 8 to engage members and stakeholders on what the club achieved this year and also unveiled the plans for 2023.
The meeting saw echelons from the tourism, travel, and hospitality sector in attendance with members of the diplomatic corps also present.
Addressing the audience at the event, President of Skål Ghana, Mrs. Stella Appenteng recounted some of the achievements of the club in 2022. She mentioned this year, they visited to the school for the deaf and dumb at Mampong where they engaged in various charity work. She applauded the efforts of many contributors for leaving an indelible mark in the students’ hearts. The club also carried out a tree-planting exercise and was successful in planting 50 trees in Mampong.
In addition, the president stated that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Skal Kenya and Skal Ghana in March this year has strengthened the ties between both countries.
Mrs. Appenteng stressed the need for a membership drive and encouraged the various stakeholders at the event to come on board and be part of Skal Ghana. This, she assured, would offer the people the best experience and access to a plethora of opportunities and alliances.
“It is a friendship club; we are friends but we are doing business together. “This is a professional relationship that does not discriminate. It is to ensure that you are in the global arena so that you can network,” she emphasised.
In addition, she mentioned that although the club was unable to make it to Croatia because of some hitches with visa acquisition processes, plans are underway for the next World Congress happening in Quebec City in Canada in 2023. She added that it is imperative that Ghana is well represented at the congress and urged members to show interest in attending the event.
The Kenya Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Eliphas M. Barine, commended the work of Skål Ghana so far. “Baby steps but tremendous work. What we need is to build upon that,” he urged.
H.E. Barine reiterated the need for collaboration and establishing strong ties.
“I want to emphasize the need of building relationships and institutions. We need to build relationships with those who have been there and stick together. A club whereby you begin to brainstorm and begin to learn from others. That’s how we quickly rise from where we are to be at par with the rest of the world,” the Ambassador stated.
Skål Ghana is the country’s chapter of Skål International, a professional organisation of tourism leaders around the world, promoting global tourism and friendship. It is the only international group uniting all branches of the travel and tourism industry.
Story by: Jenice Aidoo
