With less than two months to wrap up the year, there are still so many anticipated events for the Year of Return.  We are well into November and there are a few important events to note that are still coming up.  The National Festival of Arts and Culture starts on 8th November and the program goes until 15th November.  Taking place in Koforidua at Jubilee Park, there are several activities planned for the week-long event. 

There will be several exhibitions celebrating the art and culture of all 16 regions of Ghana.  The regional ministers and paramount chiefs of each region will also be in attendance so it promises to be a beautiful display of culture.  The theme of the event is Empowering Youth Through Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts for Employment and Wealth Creation.

The Ministry of Tourism Art and Culture recognises how important it is to give a voice to the youth and to encourage them to engage in tourism, arts and cultural activities.  This month there is also the Kids in Tourism Funfair from 28th – 30th November at Efua Sutherland Park.  There will be several activities to engage young people and teach them the value of tourism.

The Acces Music in Africa Conference at the end of the month from 28th-30th November is an important pan-African event for the music industry.  It gives a platform for key industry players to network, exchange ideas and even discover new and emerging talent.  Every year this event is held in a different African city and this year, during the Year of Return, they have selected Accra as the host city.

For anyone interested in the creative arts and the music industry, this is a great place to come and meet local, regional and international professionals in the business.  Several international speakers have been confirmed for the event including award-winning musician, producer and entrepreneur, Akon, CEO and Founder of Paradise Entertainment & Distribution, Ralph Boege from Germany and Executive Vice-President of Chocolate City Group, Aibee Abidoye from Nigeria.

There are also local industry players scheduled to speak including award-winning artist Sarkodie, award-winning singer-songwriter Efya, multi-award winning musician Ebo Taylor, hip-life music pioneer Obrafuor and more. For more details on attending this conference visit their website on www.musicinafrica.net.

Just like every nation, Ghana’s greatest asset is its people. The country is regarded as one of the friendliest countries in the world. The former Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Taleb Rifai, after visiting Ghana noted, “there is nothing like the experience of being with wonderful, beautiful, warm and hospitable people of Ghana, if you haven’t visited Ghana yet then you don’t know what you are missing”.

It is satisfying to note that the tourism industry in Ghana continues to experience steady growth, despite the challenging conditions.

Through private investors, Ghana has experienced an upsurge of investments in tourism facilities such as Marine Drive, international hotel chains, local accommodation facilities, restaurants and transport services among others.

However, being recognised as the warmest people and investing in infrastructure is only one side of the equation to make Ghana the destination of choice.

The most important investment that would project us as the preferred destination is what we pay little attention to. This is the area of Quality Service Delivery. Quality service delivery continues to be the neglected factor in Ghana’s tourism and hospitality industry. Quality service must go with the employment of qualified personnel and or equipping them with relevant skills to meet and ‘wow’ customers in terms of their expectations.

Tourists who travel to Ghana receive the warmest welcome but are met with the poor services rendered by the hospitality agencies. Whilst we are selling destination Ghana as a place with interesting tourist sites, hospitable people, good food and music, we must be able to also sell it as a place with best service providers.

It is a plus for us as a country to be rated as the warmest destination, but let’s not forget that once the service provided is not to the satisfaction of the visitor, they tend to concentrate more on the poor service rendered than the good reception they received.

In marketing, it is often said that ‘if a customer is satisfied, he introduces ten more customers to a product or service’, on the other hand, ‘if a customer is dissatisfied he takes five customers away from the product or service’.

Tourists all over the world including domestic ones are discerning. The industry therefore thrives on quality service as these attract repeat visits which generate positive referrals and endorsements. Quality services also serves as a marketing tool that creates positive impression to visitors, thereby ultimately reflecting our image of being a “Uniquely Welcoming” destination.

As a tourism destination, there is the need to improve on the service delivery, that is the smiles, welcoming guest as they arrive, looking sharp and serving them on time as well as providing them with the basic needs they request for on arrival.

To achieve our aim as a tourism destination in West Africa and the World as a whole, our tourist sites should be well managed. We must protect and build on our natural and man-made resources and again maintain our friendliness to be in harmony with the service delivery.

The Ghana Tourism Authority must be commended for their recent initiative which was in partnership with the Ghana Tourism Federation to train, educate and sensitize the for informal catering sector, with the objective to improve the quality of service delivery within the informal catering sector and also to equip operators with requisite skills in order to render professional catering services.

We must work for God and the country

Darling Asieduwaa Ntiamoah

Ghana Tourism Authority.

The Ministry of Tourism, Creative Arts and Culture, has begun discussions with industry players, including the Exim Bank, on the management of a GH¢10 million Creative Arts Fund.

To give legal backing to the fund, a draft bill, put together by the ministry with recommendations by the Attorney- General, had already been submitted to Cabinet for approval.

The sector minister, Mrs Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, said this at a Ghana Creative Arts Industry forum in Accra last Thursday, on the theme: “Reviving Ghana’s creative arts industry”.

The participants also discussed ways to chart a new path to make the sector more vibrant.

Assessment

 

 

The minister expressed the hope that upon assessment by Cabinet, the bill would be forwarded to Parliament for approval within the first quarter of 2020.

Mrs Oteng-Gyasi said once the bill was passed, it would pave the way for a functioning body to manage the fund for the intended purpose of accelerating the growth of the industry in the country.

She explained that it was to prepare the grounds for a legal status for the fund that an Interim Creative Arts Council was set up to harmonise the various associations in the sector and also support in the preparation of the bill.

“After the passage of this bill, the council will have a full functioning body with management on board to commence comprehensive operations,” Mrs Oteng-Gyasi added.

According to the minister, funding remained a critical challenge in the industry and it was to address that difficulty that the government, with the support of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, established the fund to provide support for the development of the sector.

“Funding in the creative arts industry has been a critical challenge and due to that most creative ideas are not able to materialise.

We have created this fund to invest in the industry and support all creative ideas to ensure that they become a reality,” Mrs Oteng-Gyasi added.

The setting up of the fund was announced in the 2018 Budget presentation to Parliament on November 15, 2017, by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, as part of the government’s effort to make the industry more vibrant.

“The government will continue its initiatives to improve the creative arts sector with the establishment of a fully functional Creative Arts Secretariat and the commencement of feasibility studies to set up a Creative Arts Fund,” he said.

Insurance

Mrs Oteng-Gyasi said the ministry was also in consultation with other stakeholders such as the National Commission on Culture on the establishment of an insurance scheme for members of the creative arts industry, and that when they reached a concensus, a national data of members would be collected for the initiative to take off.

Visitors

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr Kwasi Agyeman, said there was a 26 per cent increase in the number of visitors to the country this year, adding that “most of the visitors came because of our music shows and movie premiers”.

He said the tourism sector was key to the development of the country and, therefore, urged industry players to ensure quality output and also unite to promote their agenda.

“You need to organise yourselves to have one voice and fight for a common cause. When that happens, we the authorities will take you seriously. You also need to have a very good brand and get a good management team to ensure proper business deals for you,” Mr Agyeman added.

Source: Graphic online

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and the Ewefiaga, Torgbi Agorkoli IV from Notsie in the Republic of Togo, will grace this year’s Hogbetsotsoza on Saturday, November 2, 2019.

The Asantehene is the guest speaker with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the special guest of honour.

Also in attendance will be Agbogbomefia Togbe Afede XIV, who is also President of National House of Chiefs, also as a guest of honour.

Agbotadua Boni, Special Aide to the Awoamefia Torgbui Sri III told the Ghana News Agency that all chiefs and people of the 36 states of Anlo were ready for the historic celebration of the festival.

He said the presence of the Asantehene would rekindle the age-long relationship between the Anlos and Asantes.

Agbotadua Boni said other distinguished chiefs and personalities would be partaking in Saturday’s event to make good the theme for this year’s celebration, “Uniting Anlo through its Values for the Benefits of its Citizens and the Nation at Large”.

Hogbetsotsoza also Known as Hogbeza is celebrated by the Anlo Ewes in the Volta Region to commemorate the legendary exodus of the Ewe-Dogbo folks from Notsie in present day Togo.

It is celebrated every first Saturday in November at the traditional capital of the Anlo State, Anloga, with a number of activities and ceremonies including reconciliation, cleansing, enactment of the departure/ escape, mini Hogbe and mini durbar of schools preceding the main durbar.

Source: Ghananewsagency.org

Emancipation Day Celebration is a national and an annual event observed to commemorate the resistance and liberation of African people in the Diaspora against enslavement and violation of their human rights.

The Emancipation Day Celebration which originated in the Caribbean has been celebrated since 1834 when chattel slavery was finally abolished in the Caribbean.

The event has been on Ghana’s tourism calendar of event since 1998. Ghana became the first African Country to re-affirm its status as the gateway to the homeland of Africans in the Diaspora.

Emancipation Day more consciously serves to create and develop a unique sense of unity, cooperation and understanding amongst Africans the world over as well as all peoples of conscience. Emancipation is not only freedom to the enslaved, but also the enslaver.

No nation can claim to be free if its existence is based on the enslavement of its people or another race. The entire world is fully aware of the long existence of Chattel Slavery and its impact on man.

The recognition of August 1st is not meant to merely serve as a remembrance of the abolition of Chattel Slavery. It is of utmost importance that we understand that never again must the African or any other race be reduced to the level of chattel to be less human. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Emancipation Day thus represents that vigilance which all peoples of conscience should celebrate.

Slavery of various forms has been known in human society for a long time. But the kind of slavery under which the victims were regarded as properly without rights, in which legally they had no personality, completely at the disposal of their owners, has come to be known as the Chattel Slavery. Such was the nature of the slavery that dominated the New World Societies, particularly from the seventeenth century onwards.

At this same time slavery as practised in the America’s, the Caribbean and the islands of the Atlantic become increasingly identified with the black person, the African. In other words, though throughout history men had enslaved, and been enslaved by others, irrespective of colour, race, creed or sex, Chattel Slavery known in these places involved almost exclusively the African as the victim, with white people as usual as the dominant ones.

The African slave, under the system, was regarded as an inferior being almost without a soul; a brute without reason, without civilization or culture. Consequently, he tended to be treated with harshness and brutality. The whip was constantly used as a means of punishment, and a threat to keep the slave working without let up.

Other means of discipline included iron collars, wooden or iron stocks used for imprisoning legs and hands; leg irons, sometimes with heavy weights attached; face masks, branding with hot iron, etc.

The most common reason for bringing in African slaves to the New World was to have large and disciplined force of unskilled labour, available at short notice, capable of being concentrated and driven hard at certain periods.

This would meet the needs of the plantation system that had become established in the New World, particularly in the lowland tropical areas where sugar, cotton, cocoa, coffee and rice could be cultivated. In these places, neither the European nor the American Indian could fit the demands of plantation labour as well as African slave, for various reasons.

Thus in the New World, the African slaves mainly worked in agriculture producing cash crops. But they also performed every kind of labour on the plantation and outside.

Once on the plantation, as one writer has put it, “everything or almost everything is the product of the black man: it is he who has built the houses, he has made the bricks, sawed the boards, channelled the water, etc; the roads and most of the machines in the mill are, along with the lands cultivated, the products of his industry. He has raised cattle, pigs and the other animals needed on the plantation”.

In and around the houses of the owners they worked as male and female retainers, cooks, laundresses and tailors, seamstresses, boys and girls to do odd jobs, cleaners, etc. In the cities others did such jobs as carpentry, tailoring, masonry, candle-making, shoe-making, baking, peddling goods and food; some acted as waiters, goldsmiths, porters, prostitutes and factory hands. They could also be found in mining gold, diamond and silver.

The recognition of August 1st is not meant to merely serve as a remembrance of the abolition of Chattel Slavery. Emancipation Day should more so consciously serve to create and develop a unique sense of unity, cooperation and understanding amongst Africans the world over as well as all peoples of conscience.

One has to accept the fact and understanding that more than hundred million men and women, particularly between the ages of 15 and 35, were forcefully uprooted and dreadfully transported from their motherland. They were extracted from their paths of development and transplanted to foreign lands under a system of slavery. Noteworthy to mention is their separation from their kin in these foreign lands.

The world is yet to fathom what Africa would be like today, had the content not been subjected to the extraction of her most precious resource, her people. One can fairly state that slavery had a devastating effect on the development of Africa as a force to be reckoned with globally.

The system divided the peoples of Africa, which seems, no doubt, to be permanent.

In our attempt to internationalize Emancipation Day, it is of utmost importance that we understand that never again must the African or any other race be reduced to the level of Chattel to be less human. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Emancipation Day thus represents that vigilance which all peoples of conscience should celebrate.

Emancipation is not only freedom to the enslaved, but also the enslaver. No nation can claim to be free if its existence is based on the enslavement of its people or another race. The entire world is fully aware of the long existence of Chattel Slavery and its impact on man.

Yet, the international community has not seen it fit to acknowledge its abolition. This is a historical omission that the Caribbean Historical Society seeks to correct.

In the words of the South African Ambassador to Ottawa, H.E. Mr. Billy Modise, in thanking the Caribbean Historical Society for the invitation to the launching of the internationalization of the Emancipation Day at the City Hall, Ottawa on November 24, 1996, “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate your societies for this worthy initiative. August 1st, 1834 is a very significant and important milestone in the history of mankind.

It was a stepping-stone towards the ideal of total freedom for people of African origin. As one cannot say that total freedom has already been achieved in all cases, it behoves all to continue working towards real total emancipation and freedom throughout the world. The abolition of Chattel Slavery should be seen, therefore, as part of a process which has not yet completely reached its end”.

The continued success of emancipation celebrations, however, is very much dependent on the involvement and participation of the countries from the African continent. The Caribbean Historical Society staunchly believes those Africans at home and abroad must be encouraged to see the wisdom of the internationalization of Emancipation Day. Its acknowledgement is absolutely necessary.

It is imperative that we all come together on August 1st each year to give thanks and praises to our great ancestors who featured prominently in the emancipation process. They have paved the way for us in their glowing spirit, determination, purpose and meaning of emancipation. Let us allow their blood, sweat and tears to continue to inform our lives as we prepare to meet the challenges ahead.

By Kofi Atta Kakra Kusi

The growth of every institution depends on the professionalism of its workforce. From the layman’s perspective, tourism is entertainment that focuses on good customer service.

Apart from promoting and marketing a destination locally and internationally, tourism is multi-sectoral as it cuts across agriculture, health, manufacturing, sports and many more.

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture engages in policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation of its agencies. Its Eleven agencies include, The Ghana Tourism Authority, The Ghana Tourism Development Company, Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, The National Commission on Culture, The National Theatre of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and W.E.B Dubois Centre. The rest are National Folklore Board, Bureau of Ghana Languages, Hotel Catering and Tourism Training Institute (HOTCATT) and Pan African Writers Association.

Over the years, the Ghana Tourism Authority has played its pivotal role as the main implementing agency in promoting and marketing tourism both domestically and internationally. A Tourist is a person who spends time away from home in the pursuit of recreation, relaxation and pleasure while making use of the commercial provision of services.

In these modern times, Tourism has grown drastically in Ghana in particular and Africa as a whole. It has become more interesting, fun, exciting and educative.

In 2015 the number of arrivals was reported at 897,000 according to the World Bank collection of development indicators. This has enhanced businesses, created opportunities and networking thereby leading to an exponential growth of the economy.

The Ghana Tourism Authority continues to contribute its quota to the Tourism industry. The function of G.T.A is to ensure sustainable tourism development through the creation of an enabling environment for the provision of quality tourism services and products.

In view of this, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Ghana Tourism Authority have participated in local and international fairs and exhibitions, conferences, seminars, etc to promote the culture and heritage of Ghana thereby marketing and promoting the country.

Tourism in Ghana is educational. One will ask why the need to travel to Ghana? Well, it is the best place for a cultural holiday in Africa. It is also one of the best option one can choose, not only for the fun but also to learn more about the history of the country, the culture of the people among other things.

There is no doubt that Ghana is one of the favourite countries to visit in the world. The tourist sites and attractions, cuisine, warmth and rhythm is unique. Ghana stands at the centre of the world, with the Greenwich Meridian passing through at Tema and thus making it a beacon of tourism within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Comparing Tourism after independence till date has moved from not only visiting and watching but undertaking tourism projects and development that inure to the benefit of communities and the industry as a whole. The influx of social media has also helped the tourism industry in so many diverse ways.

This is evident of the fact that the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Mr Akwasi Agyeman is championing the move to digital marketing which has helped the tourism industry to achieve its goals of increasing tourist arrivals and receipts.

It is by dint of his hard work, dedication and commitment that he was awarded the Outstanding Industry Personality (Gold) at the Africa Digital Heroes Awards ceremony held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja recently.

Again, Tourism in Ghana has helped in networking and creating jobs. One thing Ghana is proud of is the fact that we are the first African to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans from Jamestown, Accra to Jamestown in Virginia in the United States of America in 1619. Ghana is the best place to be recommended as a tourist country due to our stable democratic dispensation, peaceful and harmonious co-existence of the different religious and ethnic groups.

Ghana can again confidently boast of multiple tourist sites like waterfalls, national parks, mountain peaks, monkey sanctuaries, canopy walkways and caves. These tourist attractions are very hospitable and make holidays memorable.

The Ghana Tourism Authority is poised in ensuring best practices within the Tourism and Hospitality industry in Ghana in order to continue enjoying the accolade as the most preferred tourist destination in Africa. It is no wonder the Authority has maintained our Tourism slogan; Ghana, Culture, Warmth and Rythm.

By: Nana Akua Prempeh / National Service Personnel /Ghana Tourism Authority