OPERATORS IN TOURISM INDUSTRY SCHOOLED

Tourism in Ghana is booming and, with the recent discovery of oil within Ghana’s waters, more and more external guests are visiting the country.

‘The expected outcome is that participants will have an understanding of what makes good customer service and how to deliver excellent customer service, how to deal with difficult customers and how to manage stress associated with service delivery.’

Clearly, the Ghanaian Tourist Board (which was set up in 1970) knows what the country’s potential for tourism can achieve, and is keen to make sure that everyone from the top down of the hospitality industry is aware of its importance.

The opening speaker is quick to remind everyone that standards for tourist satisfaction have been falling in recent years, but states that ‘The [Tourist] Board is not ignorant of the fact that lack of training is responsible.’ Therefore, training is now to be a regularly held government initiative to make sure that all tourists, both domestic and international, are left satisfied by traditional Ghanaian hospitality. I am lucky enough to be sitting in on this, the opening ceremony and first tutorial to gain an insight into how the board seeks to prop up these falling standards.

The presenter of the course is Mr. Roland Ross Ewool, a highly educated man who has a number of impressive social science degrees. Since 1992, he has instructed 10,000 pupils so his experience in both teaching and his chosen field are second to none. As a public speaker, he is fantastic, with a personality and charisma that can barely fit inside the already straining room. He does not simply instruct but explains, repeating over and over again, the need for ‘quality customer service’ and that as hospitality staff, people should take pride in their ability to help and serve others. With these tools, he argues that Ghanaians can infect tourists with nothing but kindness and turn themselves into ‘weapons of mass construction’ that can build a successful business and tourism industry within Ghana. These methods, he believes, can help to achieve the holy grail of business, repeat customers. However, everyone in the room understands that he is not just talking about repeat customers for business, but that if the people as a whole operate in this fashion, tourists will repeatedly return to Ghana itself.

The crowd has given him their rapt attention for 90 minutes, laughing and applauding when required. He gets them to understand fully the problems and complexities that arise in the hospitality industry and explains that the most important aspect is not that the customer is always right, but that the customer is always to be treated right. The Tourist Board is clearly making headway on this issue, turning it's full attention toward improving the experience of tourists that come to stay in Ghana. As progress continues, it can only be a matter of time before Ghana is an international tourism hot spot, boosting the economy and helping to showcase to the world the fantastically friendly disposition of those who live here. Long may it continue.

By Oliver Griffin 09/08/2011