Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Gilbert Abeiku Aggrey, has dismissed claims that the government failed to promote December in Ghana at the international level, insisting that several activations were undertaken ahead of the 2025 festive season.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z with Kwame Dadzie, Abeiku Aggrey said the authority actively marketed Ghana in foreign territories that had not been prioritised by the previous government as part of its destination tourism drive.
According to him, the influx of tourists into the country did not happen by chance but was the result of deliberate international engagements.
“The tourists didn’t get here by accident. We had activated. We did pop up activations. We travelled. I mean I did Miami for cruise trade. My boss had been to the US more than four times, I went to Czech Republic, Central Europe. We had not targeted Central Europe, Poland, all those areas,” he said.
He explained that while the authority had consistently promoted Ghana in countries such as Holland, Spain and the Netherlands, the decision was taken to explore new markets to build on the foundation laid by the previous administration.
“We decided that we were going to amplify what the previous government did by way of touching areas they hadn’t touched. So when you see the numbers trickling in, it’s because there has been a strategic plan of getting more numbers,” he noted.
Responding to criticism that the Ghana Tourism Authority dropped the ball by not publicising December in Ghana on international media platforms, Abeiku Aggrey said tourism marketing goes beyond traditional publicity.
“You have direct market activation; and that’s what we did. We went to the source market that will bring us the numbers,” he said.
December in Ghana refers to a massive, nationwide cultural and tourism festival, often called “Detty December,” featuring music, food, fashion, nightlife, and homecoming events that draw the diaspora and tourists for a vibrant end-of-year celebration of Ghanaian culture, history, and creativity, solidifying its role as Africa’s cultural tourism hub.
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