The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has embarked on a four-day training programme for Car Rentals Association of Ghana (CRAG) across the country.
The training programme which falls under the tourism component of government’s ‘Ghana Cares (Obaatanpa)’ project is to build thecapacityof drivers at CRAG to improve their standards in the hospitality industry.
The trainees made up of 400 drivers nationwide were taken through topics such as product knowledge, customer service, and etiquette, among others.
The Chief Executive Officer of GTA, MrAkwasiAgyemang, speaking at the opening of the training in Accra yesterday, saidthe training programme formed part of the project to ensure the entire value chain tourism gothrough revitalisation and sector skills upgrades.
He said the training had become necessary because the drivers were the first point of contact for tourists, both local and foreign.
According to Mr Agyemang, the training would not only be limited to the CRAG but would be extended totaxi drivers, Uber drivers, trotro drivers and other frontline staff to help build their capacity.
He said their objective was to make the driver’s experts in the tourism value chain, therefore the training would also be embarked online to enable the drivers to abreast themselves with the skills needed in the tourism industry.
“Our objective is that we make our drivers ‘gurus’ of Ghana. And when we say gurus of Ghana, they will have information on their phones, understand the etiquettes of the profession, become customer service friendly and people who can really become ambassadors of tourism whether domestic or international,” he added.
Mr Agyemangsaid after the 18 month period of training, the drivers would be awarded certificates, after they had undertaken their examination for the various courses.
The President of CRAG, Mr Seth YeboahOcran said the training would help the drivers improve upon their skills for effective service delivery in the hospitality industry.
He said tourism was the only sector that earned individuals money, and so once they gained product knowledge it was going to boost the tourism industry.
BY VIVIAN ARTHUR
