Media, stakeholders must partner to build tourism in Africa — Panellists
Panellists in a discussion at the ongoing United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) African Regional Conference in Accra have called for an enhanced partnership between the media and tourism stakeholders in building and managing a strong brand for the tourism sector of Africa.
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To that end, they have, among other things, advocated the building of the institutional capacities of the national media of African countries to enable them to play clearly defined roles in projecting an image that will make the continent attractive to tourists.
The panellists also called for a strategic bond between the two groups in order to generate a common synergy to work towards projecting a new and positive image of the continent.
Regulations on the issuance of visas to tourists, the panellists said, ought to be streamlined in such a manner that potential tourists did not have to wait too long to be issued visas, adding that the challenges tourists faced in acquiring visas were a demotivating factor.
The panellists were Mr Ransford Tetteh, the Editor of the Daily Graphic;, the Cameroonian Minister of Tourism, Mr Bello Bouba Maigar; the Content Editor of Afro Tourism, a Nigerian tourism destination company, Ms Miriam Chiazor, and a marketing executive of South Africa-based Cape Town Tourism, Ms Velma Corcoran.
The discussion was moderated by a lead consultant of CNN, Ms Anita Mendiratta.
Lack of resources
Mr Tetteh said the media were prepared to partner other stakeholders in the tourism industry but cited the lack of resources in getting media professionals to tourist sites for on-spot stories.
He said on most occasions, the media were served with press statements from the organisers of events that lacked the required ingredients for prominent publications.
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He, therefore, called for an active corps of Ghanaian travel journalists to liaise with tourism stakeholders in executing such a mandate.
Ms Chiazor said there was the need for the timely release of information on the various tourist attractions in the various countries.
She said videos and images from such attractions ought to be in real time, adding that people tended not to believe that there were a variety of tourist attractions in Africa.
Information management
Ms Corcoran called for a deliberate effort at balanced reportage that would ensure that not only the dark side of the continent was portrayed but the positives ought to be equally related.
Mr Maigari stressed the need for the continent to develop a strategy using the media for productivity and efficiency.
“Each country must come up with a strategy that will use traditional and social media in a way that positively portrays Africa in the best of light,” he said.
He observed that the European Union (EU) had succeeded in creating a big brand for its tourism industry through the engagement of expert firms to handle its information management, saying Africa could do same.
Bangkok attack condemned
Earlier, the Secretary-General of the UNWTO, Mr Taleb Rifai, had condemned a bomb attack at a shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, that killed at least 19 people and injured more than 120.
The Erawan Shrine, which was crowded at the time, is a major tourist attraction and foreigners, including Chinese, are among the casualties.
No group has yet said it carried out the attack.
On behalf of the UNWTO and the conference delegates, Mr Rifai extended condolences to the victims and their families.
Writer’s email: victor.kwawukume@graphic.com.gh