Mastercard Foundation supports stakeholders’ workshop on data and digital technology in tourism and hospitality sector in Ghana

The Mastercard Foundation in partnership with CENFRI and the African Tourism Research Network (ATRN) are working together to advance the development of Ghana’s tourism sector. With this objective in mind, ATRN in collaboration with the Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) will be hosting a follow-up to the One Day Stakeholders’ in Tourism and Hospitality Data and Digitalisation Economy workshop conducted on the 11^th of August 2023. This workshop will be led by CENFRI and CDC Consult, and will focus on the following two areas:

• Insights from the Ghanaian tourism sector. This segment will discuss the state of the Ghanaian tourism sector, diving into the key challenges that are hindering development, and the opportunities for growing the tourism sector. This discussion will also focus on how data and digital technology are being used among private and public sector players. In doing so, we will explore the barriers to greater data and digital technology adoption and highlight the opportunities that the enhanced use of data and digital technology can unlock. These opportunities include increasing revenue generation, saving on the cost of operations, better customer segmentation and analysis, and improving tourism services and products.
• Recommendations for the public and private sectors. This segment will build on the challenges and opportunities and provide practical recommendations for public and private stakeholders to grow the tourism market. These recommendations will provide practical and contextually grounded examples of what they would involve, why they are relevant and necessary, and how they can be effectively implemented.

Day 1 (20^th October) workshop which will be held on Friday the 20^th of October 2023 at the Fiesta Royale Hotel will be attended by 75 participants drawn from academia, private and public sectors.

Day 2, 3 and 4 (23^rd -25^th October) which will be held at MEST in East Legon, will focus on a training session specifically on the principles of tourism marketing and leveraging data for decision-making. This training will be led by CENFRI and will focus on how to:

• Create the most optimal digital presence for Ghana’s tourism sector,
• Digitally handle your selling propositions for national campaigns (making and managing your marketing messages),
• Effectively communicating with tourists and turning interest and intrigue into booking and buying, and
• Leverage data available to you to make strategic and well-informed decisions such as collecting, analysis and leveraging data on customer feedback and experiences, seasonality, and tourist segmentation to inform national strategic objectives.

The objectives of this training session are to:

• Provide key stakeholders in the tourism sector with the tools necessary to improve their businesses and champion the lessons and benefits from this training, and
• Take the training material and learnings and re-train association members, tourism operators and other relevant stakeholders. From this training, you will receive practical guidance on and templates on how to implement the points above, and key materials to take these lessons home and re-train operators and relevant stakeholders in the market.

Compiled by:
Emmanuel Frimpong
President, Africa Tourism Research Network and CEO, Pishon Consult Ltd.

Convener of workshop/Training.