Prioritise succession planning
-Dr Awal advises tourism industry players
By Selorm GBORBIDZI, Accra
The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, has advised players in the tourism sector to consider succession planning to ensure that their business keep on thriving when they are no longer around.
The Minister told the players in the tourism and hospitality management sector that after a considerable period of observation and research, he had realised that most Ghanaian businesses collapse after the demise of their founders, and this is largely due to the lack of effective succession planning on the part of these founders.
He told the gathering of hospitality industry players that “most hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions, when the owners exit either through death or retirement, the businesses collapse. Only about 50% of businesses survive.”
Dr Awal urged them to plan ahead saying, “don’t wait till you cannot walk before you start looking for who will succeed you. Start building succession, whether they are your children, your relatives or those who’ve gone through the mill.”
He bemoaned the absence of Ghanaian companies on the Africa Club 100 list.
A development he attributed to the short lifespans of Ghanaian indigenous businesses.
The Minister made these calls during a breakfast meeting with tourism industry players.
He also advised these founders to teach their values to their identified heirs. He also advised them to give their successors social capital to enable them carry the torch forward.
Dr Awal urged the industry players to work to build the domestic tourism sector to a point where it draws a great chunk of the $8 million tourism revenue that left the country last year.
He also touched on the issue of tariffs, which has been a bone of contention between the utility providers and the tourism sector players.
