Ghana’s tourism was given another positive boost when the city of Accra was named the ‘M.I.C.E City of the Year’ at the “M.I.C.E Awards West Africa” awards.
This was during the 6th Abuja Jabamah, a B2B – Business to Business – travel and tourism trade conference hosted at the Exhibition Hall of the International Conference Center in Abuja on Friday.
An acronym for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions – M.I.C.E – is an industry term for business tourism, and while focusing on this aspect of tourism does not reinvent the hospitality sector, it brings new thinking and packaging opportunities to boost stakeholder engagement in the tourism ambit.
In Abuja to receive the award was PaJohn Bentsifi Dadson, Director of the recently launched Ghana Tourism Authority ‘s travel, media and consumer advisory unit, the Ghana National Convention and Visitors Bureau (GNCVB), which was established to service vacationers and meeting planners.
Kaya Tours, a Ghanaian company, was also named MICE Company of the Year.
Expressing his delight about the recognition accorded the city, Mr Dadson said the aspiration for the development of M.I.C.E was “to build a West Africa wide experience for future event delegates, such that we can input into the itineraries of conference participants in one country, cultural immersions across the sub-region to making it a destination of choice.”
According to the global experts in association meetings, the International Congress and Convention.
Association, Accra Ghana is the only West African city in the Top 10, ranked number 9 in Africa, with Abidjan and Dakar following at 13 and 14 respectively. Johannesburg, South Africa and Kigali, Rwanda are ranked higher.
Accra’s popularity is owing to the country’s stability, and currently focused on establishing the Bureau as one of the strongest destination support services in Africa, Mr Dadson has the mandate to set up the GNCVB as a one-stop solution for information, guidance and assistance and also market the country abroad to attract more group tourism business.
Other winners at the event, which also named the Top 100 Tourism Personalities in Nigeria, included Lagos State which won two awards, the M.I.C.E. City of the Year in Nigeria and the M.I.C.E. Most Active Tourism State in Nigeria. Rivers State and Plateau tied-up with Lagos State as the M.I.C.E. Most Active Tourism State in Nigeria. Uloma, and Egbuna’s Tour Brokers International was honoured with the M.I.C.E. Company of the Year Nigeria.
Source: dailyheritage.com.gh
