Tourism Federation to provide solar equipment for members
The Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) has entered into an agreement with P&K Consultancy and Training, a Chinese firm, for the supply of solar-operated equipment to cut electricity costs.
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They include solar panels for buildings (including hotels, and solar-operated equipment such as refrigerators, deep freezers, heaters and TV sets.
“In an industry which depends heavily on refrigeration and electrical appliances in a country where electricity tariffs are going up, we believe that if our members are looking for anything, it is a way to cut electricity costs and thereby, reduce that burden on operational budget,” says Mr David Nana Anim, the President of GHATOF.
Speaking to newsmen just before he led a six-member GHATOF delegation on a trade visit to Nairobi, Kenya, Nana Anim said the federation, which was an umbrella body grouping of various tourism associations in Ghana, had also decided to enter into special credit contracts with a number of manufacturing and bulk import/export companies in Ghana under which GHATOF members would be supplied with items needed for their day-to-day operations, with payment spread over a period of time.
One of such contracts had just been signed with PZ Cussons for the supply of toiletry and other essentials.
The GHATOF president spelt out his vision: “I want to make GHATOF a common but respectable name in Ghana, and the industry itself one which the practitioner will be proud to belong to. Being a tourism operator should not be an after-thought, a profession or trade you enter because you are going nowhere. People should come in with knowledge, not with the buy-and-sell or quick money attitude”.
It is the main reason for which GHATOF is laying a lot of emphasis on research and monitoring. “We are going to set up a division solely for that. For too long, we have operated without the benefit of facts and figures. Indeed, we should be so strong with research and figures that the ministry itself, GTA and all others should be relying on us for data”.
The Ghana Tourism Federation is made up of 21 trade associations, grouping under its umbrella. They include the Hoteliers Association, Car Rental Association, the Board of Airlines, the Tourism Operators Association (TOUGHA), Travel and Tour Guides Association, Restaurant and Night Clubs Association, the Skal Club, Ghana Association of Travel and Tourist Agents (GATTA), Cook Art and Chefs Association, Institute of Hospitality, the Forex Bureau Association Drinking Bar Operators Association and Indigenous Caterers Association.
