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Wholly-owned Ghanaian carrier, Goldstar Air, donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Kids In Tourism (KIT) Ghana, a Tourism Club in collaboration with the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), towards the safety of this year’s Kids Cultural and Tourism Festival in Accra and Kumasi, which forms part of activities of the Beyond the Return programme dubbed December in GH.
Kids in Tourism Ghana is an organization committed to strengthening culture and tourism among Ghanaian school children ages between 6 to 14 and their vision is to educate young people, assist them in developing their creativity, and expose and instill in them Ghana’s rich tourist and cultural resources.
Mr. Edmund Lamptey, the Executive Assistant to the CEO, presented the items on behalf of Mr. Eric Bannerman, the Executive Chairman of Goldstar Air, and was received by Ms. Nana Akua Afriyie, CEO/Co Founder of Kids in Tourism (KIT) Ghana.
The Executive Assistant of the airline said, “the management of Goldstar Air decided to support this initiative as part of its corporate social responsibility and as an organization that shares the President’s determination to safeguard every Ghanaian.[ads1]
“Tourism is big money now and countries all over the world are making money from it and Ghana too could do same by nurturing children from their early stages to develop an interest in both domestic and international tourism. Children have a big impact on tourism because they can influence their parents’ choices of where to travel, and they can also influence the places they visit by recommending them to others,” he added.
Goldstar Air has pledged to offer seed money of Five Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHc 5,000) to travel agencies registered with the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) for over a year. Mr. Edmund Lamptey added that the agencies must also be willing to apply for Goldstar Air’s local billing system and pay the same amount or more in order to sell their tickets. The airline also has a travel and tour agency as a subsidiary, and it plans to bring back all travel agencies, which are slowly dying due to the COVID-19 pandemic and competition from operating airlines.
Instead of directly competing with travel agencies, Goldstar Air intends to form good working relationships in the form of strategic alliances to keep all Ghanaian travel agencies in business and their employees in place. ‘In fact, because of the Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50, 000) bank guarantee, approximately 90% of Ghanaian travel agencies do not have an international billing system, so this will come as a relief to them, and we will also offer Ghana tour operators competitive air tickets to their clients, ensuring customer satisfaction at all times.’
Ms. Nana Akua Afriyie and Mr Nat Botchway (Patron and Director of CPS) expressed heartfelt gratitude to Management of Goldstar Air for making such a generous contribution at such a critical time, as well as all collaborators toward the anticipated success of the Kids in Tourism Festival on December 3, 2021.
The CEO/Co founder of Kids in Tourism Ghana encouraged parents and teachers to take advantage of the festival to get their children to be exposed and experience the rich tourism potentials of Ghana, learn about their culture and meet up with friends from other schools and places
Ghana is an NGO that works with the Ministry of Tourism and the Ghana Tourism Authority to introduce our children to Ghana’s tourism and cultural potentials through the formation of tourism clubs in primary schools.
This initiative was officially launched on December 12th, 2015 at the Osu Palace under the Chairmanship of the late Nii Kinka Dowuna, then Osu Mantse, in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana and is now present in 5 Regions of Ghana with a membership drive of over Eleven Thousand (11,000) children.
Kids in Tourism have received awards such as Honorary Award, Greater Accra 2018 and Honorary Award, National Level 2020, Junior Tourism Ambassador, Debates, Classroom Activities, National Events and embarked on Intra City Tours, Excursions, Resource meetings with Top Tourism Stakeholders and Children Festivals in Europe. Kids in Tourism’s first magazine on culture and tourism was sold on Amazon, one of the world’s largest online retailers.[ads4]
Mr Kofi Atta Kakra Kusi of the Ghana Tourism Authority’s Corporate Affairs Department, who was present at the ceremony, stated that more than a thousand five hundred tourists are expected to participate in the December in GH events, and resource persons will also interact and talk to them about Ghana’s tourism potentials and Wear Ghana, Eat Ghana, and Feel Ghana.
The airline’s CEO, Mr. Eric Bannerman, stated that “such cultural promotion programs will help in attracting tourists and thus generating revenue for the state.” He also stated that it will help the children “identify who they are, where they come from, and appreciate what they have.”
“Because we are committed to Ghana’s development, Goldstar Air cabin crew will sell Ghana-made items and promote Ghana tourism attractions on board, as we want our guests to smile as they leave our offices and planes, and will feature 70% local content, including Ghanaian food, music, movies, and announcements in the majority of our Ghanaian languages.”[ads3]
The presentation was witnessed by Miss Roseline Larkai (GT Accra Regional Director, Kids In Tourism), Mohammed Yayah (Intern. KNUST), Theresa Ampofo (Intern, KNUST), Mr Ofori (Director, Kids In Tourism)
Mr. Charles Nettey (Airport Manager), Ms. Racheal Quaynor (Cabin Crew), Ms. Excel Norman (Cabin Crew), Mr. Edwin Lamptey (Cabin Crew) and Mr Dennis Kwabeng (Head of Cabin Crew Service), were among the Goldstar Air Team officials who attended the event.
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