Don’t overburden GTA with Ghana Month responsibilities – Akwasi Agyeman
THE Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Akwasi Agyeman, is calling for collective responsibility from the public in ensuring the success and longevity of the Ghana Month initiative.
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He stressed that while his outfit played a critical role in the implementation of the initiative, shifting the entire responsibility on GTA would make it an overwhelming task and might subsequently lead to its failure.
Speaking exclusively to Graphic Showbiz, on the sidelines of the Graphic Business/Stanbic Breakfast Meeting on the theme: “Tourism the Golden Egg, a Shared Responsibility” held at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, he said it was critical that individuals, state institutions and private organisations come together to support and promote the initiative.
“For me, it is something that if we work together and share the responsibility as Ghanaians, we would be able to really drive growth. So far, awareness creation of Ghana Month has been positive, tourism starts with what we call patriotism. When we all see ourselves as Ghanaians and own the Ghana Month initiative, we can better sell it to the world.
“We have left it in a way to only media houses and so they do it as a leisure. We want it to be a collaborative activity, a shared responsibility where we can support the media houses who are doing it to be able to run it. Our bigger picture is to see tourism mainstreamed in all the key areas of the economy so that people understand that every activity we undertake is hinged on tourism,” he said.
Acknowledging the pivotal role of the media, he expressed gratitude to outlets such as Graphic Showbiz for their support in promoting the Ghana Month initiative.
He praised the media's role in generating conversations around Ghana's heritage and culture, noting its positive impact on the consumption of locally made products.
He also revealed that efforts to bolster support for the initiative was to provide financial assistance to media houses actively championing the Ghana Month cause and would call for accountability and sustained commitment to ensure the initiative's success.
“We want to thank the media, especially Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL), for being instrumental in ensuring Ghana Month initiative comes to stay. The little that I have seen is that the initiative has gone beyond our expectations.”
“We have seen a lot of conversations on media platforms around our heritage and culture and it has been overwhelming. It has among others led to an increase in consumption of made-in-Ghana products but there is room for improvement. More collaborations are needed especially with media houses such as GCGL who are in the forefront of this initiative,” he added.
