Ghana should emulate the tourism strategy of Dubai – Western Music Awards CEO

Emmanuel Ampaabeng, the CEO of Western Music Awards has asserted that a lot of revenue could be generated from tourism if Ghana emulates the strategy employed by Dubai to get the world to the United Arab Emirates City.

Mr. Ampaabeng who was in Dubai for a week on a Justmax Travel and Tours sponsored trip recounted his experience: “Dubai is intentional about tourism. They have created a lot of activities on the dessert that will make it memorable for any visitor. The dune dessert safari ride, the camel ride and the sandboarding are some activities that have been structured to take money from visitors on the dessert.”

“The on-air dinner adventure for instance made me realize they are maximizing every space to generate revenue. On the water, you pay, in the sand you pay, in the the air too? These people are very serious about tourism and I think we even have more tourist attractions than they do so I wonder why we are unable to maximize our tourist attractions and rake in more revenue” Mr. Ampaabeng quizzed.

Sharing how Dubai also protects its talents, the CEO of Western Music Awards added that, during a marina dinner cruise with live music, all the music they played on board were from their Artistes and his request to play music from his country was not granted. “I realized that they are imposing their music on us and I saved some of the nice songs which I still play today. This is very conscious to promote their talents too, even though I didn’t understand it in the beginning” Ampaabeng added.

In his view, since the crude oil that Ghana has discovered has a short lifespan, Dubai is a quintessential for Ghana to make the country a tourist hub of Africa.

During this year’s Western Music Awards, the CEO of Justmax Travel and Tours, Mr. Justice Acquah promised to sponsor the CEO of the awards to Dubai to witness the Dubai Expo as part of his contribution to the awards. Mr. Ampaabeng’s trip to Dubai was therefore a promise fulfilled by the leading Travel and Tours Company in Western Region.

By Nana Kwesi Coomson