The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Tourist Authority (GTA), Ekow Samsom, has advised participants in the hospitality sector to offer top-notch services to their clients in order to advance the travel and tourism industry.
For clients to receive value for their money, he claimed that excellent customer service was necessary at every stage in the industry, including hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and airlines.
Mr. Samsom provided the guidance to informal caterers in Tamale during a stakeholders’ engagement and customer service training to improve their ability to provide better customer care.
Customer service was directly related to tourism and without customers companies would not get the expected income, he said, adding that customers must get the satiisfaction they dreamt of for every venture.
Mrs Yvonne Ohui MacCarthy, Consultant for GTA, advised the participants to be friendly to customers and build good relationships, which would entice them to always yearn to come back.
She said; “If tourists get good service in a well-known catering service, then they will consider that hotel chain first whenever they travel again and will recommend it to others within their social circle.”
“Marketing in the tourism and hospitality industry requires an understanding of the differences between marketing goods and marketing services.”
Mrs MacCarthy said organisations needed an understanding of the unique characteristics of the motivation and behaviours of travelling consumers to take advantage of every opportunity.
Miss Annabelle McKenzie, the Director of Beyond the Return at the GTA, called on catering service providers to introduce Ghanaian foods to their customers as part of promoting made-in-Ghana foods globally.