Hospitality industry reels under fears of terrorist attack
The threat of a possible terrorist attack on Ghana predicted by Prophet T.B Joshua is having a negative toll on the operations of some Ghanaian businesses, especially the hospitality industry.
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The first Vice-President of Hotels Association of Ghana, Mr Bruce Potter, said although international businesses have not been affected in any major way in terms of the number of tourists that come to Ghana, patronage of goods and services by the locals at some hotels and malls have gone drastically down at certain periods and days that used to record a boom.
For instance, he said, most businesses that used to record massive patronage of their products and services on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays have been hit with low patronage.
Mr Potter said this when he and some members of the association met with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in Accra last Thursday.
The meeting, which was participated by other members of the hospitality and tourism sector, was to discuss the impact of perceived terrorist attacks and some of the security concerns at their various organisations.
A five-member committee was inaugurated to ensure that the security measures in the hotel sector were properly put in place and adhered to.
Present at the event were officials from A-list hotels, including Kempinski, Fiesta Royal, Mensvic, M-Plaza, La Palm Royal Hotel and other businesses.
Background
The National Security Council placed Ghana on a list of countries with the highest possible terrorist attacks, following the confession of a Malian terrorist who was interrogated as the brain behind the Grand Bassam attacks in Cote D’Ivoire.
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The possible attack was also prophesied by the Founder and Leader of the Synagogue Church of all Nations (SCOAN), Prophet T. B. Joshua, in one of his live broadcast on Emmanuel TV.
A week later, he retracted his statement, saying no terror attacks would befall Ghana because the people prayed and God listened.
Ghana is no exception
Mr Potter said although the announcement of possible attacks on Ghana was somehow necessary, Ghana was no exception to other countries that was yet to be hit by terrorists.
He said Ghana ought to be careful about the things put out to the public since it had the possibility of affecting the daily operations of businesses and lives of the people.
“The announcement of a possible terrorist attack made more news in Ghana than the rest of the world. Internationally, it was no news because every country was a possible target,” Mr Potter said.
He said instead of making it look like Ghana was the main target of terrorist attacks, the country should focus on ensuring that the right thing was done because “no matter what you do, if terrorists will strike, they will strike”.
AGI on alert
The Sector Chairman of the Hospitality and Tourism of AGI, Mr Ralph Ayitey, said there was the need to protect the hospitality and tourism industry since it generated more revenue for the nation.
He said there was the need to protect these businesses and ensure that they received all the support to maintain their operations.
Touching on the formation of the security group for the hospitality and tourism sector, Mr Ayitey said they would work hand in hand with various organisations to ensure there was safety at all hospitality centres.