Tourism: Environmental Cleanliness Critical To Attracting Tourists

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has appealed to city authorities across the country to intensify efforts at promoting environmental cleanliness and good sanitation to attract tourists into their communities.

Mr Peter Achampong, Ashanti Regional Manager of GTA, who made the appeal said tourism thrived on good environmental and attractive conditions.

It was therefore important for city authorities to up their game to remove garbage and ward-off lunatics from streets and create conducive environment to receive the numerous opportunities offered by tourism to improve not only on their revenues, but also the socio-economic lives of the people.

Mr Achampong made the appeal at the opening of a debate to mark the Ashanti regional celebration of the World Tourism Day at the Ghana Baptist University College (GBUC) in Kumasi.

The topic for the debate was 'Is Digital Marketing actually better than Traditional Marketing in Tourism Promotion?'

He said tourism offered great potential for the country's socio-economic development and it was important that appropriate measures were put in place to harness those potentials.

Mr. Matthew Osei Prempeh, Senior Quality Assurance Officer of the Ashanti Region GTA, said most western tourists saw mentally derailed people and filthy conditions as threats to their health and thereby, hindered their movement to many parts of the cities.

He called on businesses in the tourism sector to conduct their businesses according to the rules and regulations by obtaining appropriate licenses and certificates for their operations.

Mr Prempeh urged hospitality establishments to embrace the new trends of marketing to meet the demands of their clients.

Mr. Peter Sarpong, Head of Marketing Department of GBUC, called on GTA to intensify its market promotion of tourist sites to attract local people.