President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced government plans to construct a cutting-edge tourism and hospitality training school in Accra.
The school, it was explained, would assist in providing customer service training to players in the sector’s value chain.
According to Akufo-Addo, the project is worth US$10,000,000.00 and, when completed, will serve the entire West African region in terms of training professional customer service personnel.
President Akufo-Addo told attendees at a ceremony to formally open the Tema branch of Alisa hotel on Friday, 30 September 2022, that the tourism and hospitality industry suffered a serious decline as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that the sector is now recovering, justifying the need to offer it all the support necessary for a full reclamation.
“The hospitality sector is the 3rd largest contributor to the country’s GDP after cocoa and oil & gas. It accounts for 2 in 10 jobs in the country and it is for these reasons that government since 2017 has been implementing a number of initiatives to help transform the sector into a strong tool for economic transformation.
“The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that the hospitality sector has been the sector most adversely affected, evidenced in the 75% decline international tourism arrivals in 2020 and a 45% reduction in 2021,” President Akufo-Addo said.
“Thankfully, the sector is rebounding after the government took some bold and decisive measures which saved lives, livelihoods and businesses as well as through the global easing of restrictions.
“We want to use tourism as an effective tool for economic transformation which will help to create jobs and prosperity for the people. That is why government with the support of international partners, is investing heavily in key tourism attractions which will in turn, boost tourists’ arrival this year and beyond,” he added.
In line with the plan of his administration quest to boost the tourism and hospitality sector, President Akufo-Addo noted that his government plans “to build a state of the art tourism and hospitality training school in Accra”.
“The 10 million US dollar facility will serve West Africa and provide customer care training to operators in the tourism hospitality value chain. We customers are happy and delighted, they do not only stay longer in hotels, but also spend more and likely to return in future with family and friends” Akufo-Addo said.
“Building the capacity of tourism players is therefore important in our quest to be the tourism destination of West Africa. Our focus over the next 18 months, is to exploit our culture, heritage, history, hospitality and beautiful natural scenery to attract tourists, fun lovers and leisure seekers hoping to find a unique experience in Africa” he added.
President Akufo-Addo congratulated the owner of Alisa hotel, Kwame Ofosu Bamfo, his business partners, and Alisa hotel management and staff on the newest addition to their company.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
