I'LL MAKE KOFORIDUA TOURIST HUB OF ER (PAGE 31, JAN 20, 2010)

THE Managing Director of the Mac Dic Royal Plaza Hotel, Nana Kofi Adjei Twinin I, has said it is his intention to make Koforidua the tourist hub of the Eastern Region.
His ambition, he said, was to increase the facilities at the hotel to take care of visitors to the region, explaining that the three-deluxe facility, which started with three workers now had a workforce of 85.
Nana Twinin stated this at the staff awards night of the hotel in Koforidua on Monday, during which he also commended members of his staff for their hard work, describing them as “my assets who have contributed greatly to the success we have obtained today”.
The Eastern Regional Director of the Ghana Tourist Board, Mr Sampson Donkor, advised stakeholders in the hospitality industry to give priority to building the capacities of their human resource to enable them to improve on their level of professionalism.
That, he said, would not only promote the industry in the country but also make the sector more competitive in the delivery of quality professional services.
The event, which was used to reward several staff members of the hotel for their distinguished services, saw Mr Joseph Okyere being adjudged the Best Worker of the year, for which he received a colour TV set, a DVD player and a standing fan.
Mr Donkor said a general survey conducted two years ago on the quality of services provided by facilities in the hospitality industry in Ghana showed that most of the hotels were far below the average, saying that “the success of any industry depends not on its facilities but the quality services provided by its well-trained staff”.
He attributed that unfortunate situation to the lack of formal training for staff of such facilities, a situation that had contributed to the hospitality industry in the country not being competitive enough.
Mr Donkor commended the management of the Mac Dic Royal Plaza Hotel for recognising the need to allow its staff to upgrade themselves, adding that “though it is not one year yet since your establishment, you have achieved so much success to compete with big hotels in Accra”.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said since the Eastern Region was endowed with abundant tourism potential, the government had decided to turn the ERECDEC Hotel in Koforidua into a hospitality institution to be managed by the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.