National customer service excellence agenda can promote Ghana - Okraku Mantey

Deputy Minister for Tourism, Art and Culture, Mark Okraku Mantey, has said the national customer service excellence agenda can promote Ghana as a preferred tourism destination.

He made this known at the first Industry Customer Service Excellence Awards 2023 held in Accra on Saturday, October 7, 2023.

While speaking at the event, Okraku Mantey said, “if we play our part as a government to increase the numbers but then the private sector isn’t ready in terms of customer service and customer satisfaction what will be the result?".

He added that, "poor customer service can only be counterproductive if business organisations take customers for granted and therefore call for the need to support the national customer service excellence agenda in order to promote Ghana as a preferred tourism destination of choice."

The Service Excellence Foundation, under the auspices of the Ghana Tourism Federation, an affiliate member of United Nation World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) was on the theme, “Celebrating Excellence, Leadership and Innovation.”

It was in line with the National Tourism Customer Service Week.

The Customer Service Week which is held every October is to appreciate industry employees and customers while using the occasion to take stock of service delivery challenges and working collectively to address them.

The event brought together key industry players drawn from the business community within the public and private sector, members from the diplomatic corps, traditional rulers and the media fraternity.

On the night, a total of twenty key personalities drawn from the various sub-sectors of the tourism and hospitality industry such as hotels, aviation, entertainment and events, travel tourism, eco-tourism, food and beverage sector among others were honoured with Lifetime Achievements and special recognition awards categories for their unique contributions to sector growth.

The Minister for Tourism, Art and Culture, Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Awal was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Service to Tourism Industry Leadership Excellence for his outstanding contributions to policy and advocacy in support to enhance tourism and hospitality private sector growth.

Her Excellency Barbara Akoukor Benisa, Ghana High Commissioner to Malta received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Service to Tourism and Customer Service Leadership Excellence for her contributions to customer service development advocacy to enhance quality service delivery in the aviation sector.

In an interview with the media, Caleb Kofie, President of Service Excellence Foundation and also the National Tourism Customer Service Brand Ambassador for Ghana said the I.C.E Awards initiative is a private sector industry platform established to recognize and appreciate outstanding individuals, in both local and international capacities who continue to champion Service Excellence and innovations in their field of endeavours as well as business entities, within the Tourism and the Hospitality value chain.

He added that the event also seeks to put a spotlight on the role and impact of customer service/experience excellence in the industry.

He further stated that, "in order to promote customer service excellence as a strategic tool for sustainable job creation, stimulating investor confidence and accelerated economic growth within the tourism and hospitality sector it is important to take a pause, reflect and celebrate men and women of excellence who have made significant contributions to the development and growth of our industry."