One million tourists arrival target on course—GTA
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) is deploying renewed efforts that can help the country to meet the one million tourism arrival target by the end of this year.
Consequently, the authority said it was taking steps to improve confidence, track new market trends and commit to build a more resilient and inclusive tourism sector.
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This is after the sector received a little below 500,000 international tourists in the first half of the year.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GTA, Akwasi Agyeman, who made this known in an interview with the Graphic Business at a forum in Accra on August 1, said the renewed efforts would enable the country to achieve its one million international tourism arrivals.
The forum
The forum was to welcome a 40-member delegation of student leaders on a transformative journey to Ghana as part of the Amos C. Brown Fellowship, from July 31 to August 10.
The fully funded 10-day experience will lead 40 young scholars ages 18 and 25 from the United States to Ghana.
The students will be immersed in Ghanaian culture, gain deep insights into their ancestral heritage, learn about the historical connections between decolonization and the civil rights movement and discuss current global social justice movements.
The programme is the first of its kind to be powered by the NAACP, a black civil right organisation (CRO). Selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, the fellows, current college students and recent college graduates come from communities across the country from New York, Georgia, and California to Michigan, Utah, and Texas.
For many, this journey is their first visit to the African continent. The experience will prepare them to be global-minded social change agents on issues such as health equity, legal advocacy, education, and economic empowerment.
It is in collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Marketing and collaboration
Mr Agyeman said the recent visits in international arrivals seen was a direct product of enhanced marketing and collaboration in the sector by the government through GTA.
“We started our conversations with Adinkra Group in 2016 and eventually signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote Ghana across the African diaspora.
“Beyond the numbers, the caliber of people arriving are of diverse skills and influential to help support the country’s agenda to develop its economy,” he said.
Connecting people
The Founder of the Adinkra Group and a Ghana Tourism Ambassador, Diallo Sumbry, expressed his excitement to have worked with the NAACP again on another historic trip to Ghana after successfully conceiving and executing Jamestown to Jamestown with the single largest delegation to Ghana in 2019.
He said the Adinkra Group was committed to connecting people of African descent, especially young people such as the Amos C. Brown Fellows, and has only strengthened and resolved more since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
He said building on relationships formed during that journey, the NAACP continues to strengthen its ties with Ghana, and the African diaspora at large.
Social uprisings
The President of NAACP, Derrick Johnson, said since the Year of Return and the social uprisings in 2020, it has become ever more apparent that the global black community must use its collective strength, power, and resilience to fight against oppression at every level, and at every corner of the world.
He said NAACP remains committed to leading that charge and will do so by providing more opportunities for business investments, diaspora partnerships, and cultural experiences such as the Amos C. Brown Fellowship.
Over the past three years, the NAACP has become increasingly invested in the African community, highlighting its music and culture through the NAACP Image Awards, and advocating for immigrant rights through its landmark supreme court win in NAACP verses Trump, which solidified the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme.