As the President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo is expected to address Ghanaians tonight, some people within the Creative Arts and Tourism Industry including tourism and celebrity Journalist, Blogger Mustapha Nii Okai Inusah popularly known as Attractive Mustapha have suggested that the president should reopen the borders since the tourism industry is the worst hit.

According to a survey conducted by Oxford Business Group on African nations that had restricted the movement of people, goods and services, and closed non-essential businesses due to the spread of Covid-19, Those countries Tourism and Construction sectors have been hit particularly hard by the novel COVID-19 pandemic, with 80 percent and 78 percent of companies, respectively, operating at 0-20 percent capacity.

The minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, not too long ago also stated that the year of return program provided Ghana with an economic boost of almost $2 billion.

The Kotoka International Airport in Accra was ranked number one in 2019 for airports receiving between 2 million and 5 million passengers by the Airports Council International, winning the Airport Service Quality Award.

Beyond the $275 million investment in Kotoka Airport, the Kumasi, Tamale and Sunyani airports are also benefiting from major improvements to infrastructure.

Ghana’s aviation ambition is as well linked to the creation of jobs and National Tourism Development Plan.

The aviation industry aims to achieve 8 million tourists per year by 2027. Most of which the travelers were expected to arrive in the country by air and they were expected to contribute over $8 billion to the economy.

As to if the Ghanaian tourism industry will be saved from collapsing, it most definitely depends on the president’s address tonight .

We are aware the president has already met people within the Creative Arts industry for their views on the way forward for the new normal, But on one WhatsApp group which is made up of African travel journalists, the Ghanaian Journalist Attractive Mustapha argued that he supports the idea that the borders should be opened because no matter how many years it takes the president will still open the borders.

He suggested that the president should collaborate with the Ghana hotel Associations and also let anyone entering through the airports be quarantined and if possible pay for their quarantine.

He lamented that he believes the land borders should be closed for now, but the airport can be opened since its easier to control the airport and know the number of people coming in and going out through the airport.

This he believes will save the hotels who are running out of business and also add more revenue that air travel is expected to contribute to the nation.

Attractivemustapha.com