Gov’t urged to be consistent with COVID-19 protocols to attract international tourists
The government is being urged to ensure its anti-COVID-19 protocols, especially at the Kotoka International Airport, are not changed haphazardly in order to boost traveller confidence.
This is according to Aviation Analyst, Sean Mendes.
According to him, inconsistent COVID-19-related policies will deter international visitors from travelling to countries like Ghana.
Despite the strong performance of Ghana’s domestic aviation sector in 2021, international travel traffic is still underperforming.
Speaking to Citi Business News on the prospects for the sector in 2022, Mr. Mendes said it is important consumer confidence is boosted.
“I think the biggest challenge for the aviation sector in 2022 will be that governments and decision-makers must be committed to the policies they put in place and not keep chopping and changing them. Consumer confidence is really more important than the actual risk of spreading the disease through travel, which has been established to be pretty low. A person in the U.S, for example, is not going to book a trip to Ghana if they think that 3 months down the line when I’m departing the rules are going to change or there may be a travel ban or something like that.”
“Consumer confidence has to be built up by the government, making these solid decisions on the back of scientific reasons and sticking to the decisions that they make. That is the one thing that’s going to help once again bring the consumer confidence back up into flying internationally,” he added.
Source: Ghana Business
