Air charter service is expected to resume in the country by November, this year as part of plans to promote Ghana’s tourism industry, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwesi Agyemang, has indicated.
The first flight under the new air charter service, he said, would arrive at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra from the United Kingdom (UK).
According to him, the resumption of the service in the country is as a result of change in policy that ensures that chartered flights from outside the country would get passengers to and from Ghana.
“For some time now, air charter service has not been available in the country. In worst case scenarios for the operators of the service, they come into Ghana with passengers and have to leave empty, which results in losses for the operating company. We have realigned our policies to ensure that they will get passengers from here when they arrive. We are of the hope that this new direction will boost the tourism sector and record more visitors,” Mr Agyemang stated.
He was speaking yesterday in Accra during a stakeholders meeting with members of the Ghana Tourism Federation and its allied associations.
To further boost the delivery of air charter service, he said the Authority and its relevant partners have undertaken further assessment of how Gambia effectively improved the service to help in the implementation process of the service in the country.
The Chief Executive allayed the fears of the private sector that government was taking over the establishment of hospitality facilities at tourist centres, which has been a private sector-led initiative over the years, stating that government was rather partnering with the private sector to ensure all tourist centres have available and affordable hotel that would provide suitable accommodation for visitors.
“I want to assure you that government had no plans to establish hotels at our tourism destinations. What we have done is to facilitate and create the necessary environment for the private sector to take advantage. The business is still for the private sector and government only partners when it sees fit,” he added.
Accordingly, he stated that the GTA invested in marketing and promotion tourism activities with the tourism development levy and engaged in capacity building within the tourism industry.
Some operators urged the government to support hospitality and tourism operators with both financial and capacity-building support to be able to explore the sector fully to enhance revenue generation and job creation.
By Claude Nyarko Adams
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