The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Development Company (GTDC), Professor Kobby Mensah, has been named among the 2026 Twelve Leaders Shaping Place Branding Right Now by The Place Brand Observer (TPBO).
The recognition, unveiled on April 28, highlights practitioners, policymakers and researchers advancing the field of place branding. Professor Mensah stands out as the only West African tourism development executive featured on this year’s list, joining a distinguished group of global figures from countries including The Gambia, Estonia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Chile, Thailand, Sierra Leone and the United States.
In its citation, TPBO described Professor Mensah as representing “a convergence of academic insight and applied leadership in destination development,” noting that his leadership of GTDC reflects a broader shift in Ghana’s tourism strategy. The organisation emphasised that his work positions tourism as part of an integrated system linking investment, innovation and experience design.
With this honour, Professor Mensah is now part of TPBO’s Who’s Who in Place Branding, a peer-recognised network of over 500 professionals working at the intersection of place, strategy and leadership.
Professor Mensah, a Professor of Marketing at the University of Ghana Business School and a chartered marketer with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK), was appointed CEO of GTDC by John Dramani Mahama. He is widely known for pioneering digital tourism education in Ghana through the Destination Legon Tourism Marketing Exhibition, an initiative that has, since 2014, encouraged students to deploy Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence and immersive storytelling to showcase destinations.
Since taking office, he has championed the integration of academic expertise with practical experience, with a focus on innovation, sustainability and stakeholder collaboration to drive national development.
Reacting to the recognition, GTDC Board Chairman Ben Ohene Aryee described the honour as a national achievement.
“This is not Prof Mensah’s trophy alone; it is bigger than that. It is Ghana winning, and proof that the reset agenda of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama is working,” he said.
He further noted that Professor Mensah’s inclusion reinforces the evolving role of tourism as a driver of investment promotion, cultural diplomacy, youth employment and place experience.
In his response, Professor Mensah expressed humility at the recognition and framed it as a call to action for Ghana’s tourism sector.
“I am humbled to stand alongside colleagues who are redefining how nations and cities build credibility. For Ghana, this is a call to action,” he said.
He added that GTDC’s mandate is to mobilise resources for investment, support small and medium enterprises, and improve service delivery across the tourism value chain by treating Ghana’s brand as “infrastructure — coordinated, evidence-based, and co-created with communities, creatives and investors.”
The TPBO “People to Watch” list recognises leaders whose work advances place branding beyond communications into policy, economic development and long-term value creation. Among those profiled alongside Professor Mensah are Abdoulie Jobe, Andres Kask, Klara Enbom Burreau and Nabeela Farida Tunis.
