The 2nd edition of the DoGhana Travel Festival, which primary focuses on urging residents to use the month of September to ‘talk and do’ domestic tourism, is set to roll out a series of online, on radio, offline and virtual actiivities throughout the month in fresh moves to augment government’s efforts to promote the sector.

Domestic tourism is the life of tourism with 80-90% of all tourism being domestic, according to the UNWTO. Calling residents to prioritize and patronize brand Ghana experiences, the festival is particularly urging those living in urban centres to step out this and every September to vacation at, or visit any of the country’s many tourist destinations which are mostly in rural communities.

September is “Sep-Tourism ~ Staycay September’. The theme for this year’s edition is “Realigning Ghana’s domestic tourism for sustainable community development”.

Creating a platform to deliberate on how to nurture the countless attractive opportunities for leisure, recreation and job creation in all 16 regions, the festival will institute the ‘Deep Dive Dialogues’ where industry folk get to delve into topics revolving adding value to the tourism mix, and look into the matrix of travel and its determinants alongside fields connected to heritage and culture.

“Never has there been a more poignant time to ‘do Ghana'”, observes heritage and culture practitioner, Mr Akunu Dake, who is a Consultant of the festival’s planning committee. “Following the breakout of the COVID pandemic and it’s attendant lockdown and cabin fever, there has been a build up a kaleidoscope of innovative indigenous solutions, and this is what this festival seeks to highlight.”

Welcoming the festival, Prof Kwaku Boakye, Vice Chancellor of the Cape Coast Technical University and a seasoned lecturer in tourism management shared his delight, stating that “Besides smoothening-out demand fluctuations caused by international tourism, domestic tourism not only energizes local economies, it also encourages citizens to know their country better,”

He further noted that, being a middle aged person “the emerging science that proves that tourism (especially domestic) does have tangible therapeutic benefits, makes this festival most timely.”

PaJohn Bentsifi Dadson, Founder and Curator of the festival. He explains that “with the buzz on prioritizing and patronising “locally made, locally loved” brand Ghana experiences alongside conversations, we will use our online touchpoints to leverage the digital plane of social media and blogs to engage audiences with immersive exploits to connect the travel community,”

The flagship event of ‘Do Ghana’, a passion advocacy project on advancing domestic tourism in Ghana by destination management firm Bentsifi, the DoGhana Travel Festival has scheduled as part of its programming a weekly city sightseeing tour of Accra which will take place every Sunday afternoon throughout September.

Endorsed by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture as well as the Ghana Tourism Authority, together with the private sector, the DoGhana Travel Festival will be pivoted on the axis of progress in the dynamic domestic travel sector, and nurtured to grow organically with a bouquet of content into a powerhouse of inspiration for a nation looking to make culture the cornerstone of its development.