The Africa Tourism Research Network (ATRN), in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has organised a three-day training session for about 35 traditional caterers and Kente weavers in the Volta Region in social media and digital marketing skills.
The training was conducted by African Skills Hub with support from the ILO’s Global Programme on Skills and Lifelong Learning/SKILL UP Ghana Component.
The Global Programme on Skills and Lifelong Learning/SKILL UP Ghana Project is an ILO initiative in collaboration with the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training and funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.
Mr. Emmanuel Frimpong, Founding President ATRN, emphasized the critical role digitization and credible data played in the tourism and hospitality sectors.
He said, “over 80 percent of the players in this sector are informal yet they play a critical role in creating decent jobs for the youth and women, therefore it is important you are given the needed tools to take advantage of the benefits of social media marketing.”
Mr Frimpong called on other development partners, government and organisations to partner with ATRN to train more informal sector workers in the tourism, hospitality and travel sectors in areas where they lacked the needed skills.
He also used the opportunity to thank ILO for their support to these sectors over the years.
Ms. Vanessa Lareto Phala, the ILO Country Director for Ghana, Nigeria , Liberia and Sierra Leone and the Laison for ECOWAS noted that as part of its core mandate, the ILO was poised to collaborate with the Government of Ghana and key stakeholder institutions to support, train and build capacities of constituents in various sectors of the economy to create decent and sustainable jobs, especially for the youth and women.
Mr. Frank Kwasi Adetor, National Project Coordinator of ILO’s Global Program on Skills and Lifelong Learning, said digital marketing and social media skills could play a very critical role in promoting and sustaining businesses, especially in this post COVID19 era.
“I wish to admonish the two trade associations to take full advantage of this training by imparting the knowledge and skills acquired to others who could not participate in this session. You can only succeed in transcending the boarders of Ghana by conforming to and upholding international standards in your business operations,” Mr. Adetor further advised the participants.
Mr Alexander Nketiah, Regional Director of Ghana Tourism Authority, urged participants to acknowledge and accept the role of digitization and social media in their work and take advantage of the workshop to improve while at the same time benefiting from the opportunities available on the social media platforms.
He said, “the time is now to fully understand and embrace digitization, there is no other alternative than to accept it.”
Mr Nketiah assured the participants that his outfit was always ready to give them the needed support and pledged to partner ATRN and other entities who were ready to support the sector in building capacities.
