Tourism Prospects Bright For Ghana -Royal Senchi Manager

Roman Krabel

Ghana is a beautiful country by nature and could easily become a leading tourist destination in Africa if the country’s government makes tourists’ visits less stressful, Roman Krabel, General Manager of the Royal Senchi Hotel, has said.

Last year, Ghana was ranked the 9th attractive tourist destination in Africa, according to a survey conducted by Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking for Trade and Tourism in 2013.

But the Royal Senchi Hotel boss insists the country can easily climb to the top three if the requisite structures are put in place.

Scenes from Royal Senchi

“If government helps all the hotels in Ghana to make it more easy to bring more tourists into the country or make visa applications easier, I tell you Ghana will be the number two or three tourist destination in the whole Africa. Ghana has a beautiful nature,” Mr Krabel told NEWS-ONE at the official opening of the hotel on Wednesday.

Scenes from Royal Senchi

The hotel, located off the Akosombo road and situated on the west bank of the Volta River, has 74 standard rooms, nine international standard executive suites and one presidential suite with a swimming pool which is the first of its kind in Ghana. It also has conference rooms, restaurants and Olympic-size swimming pools. 

The General Manager stated that even though the hotel had been operating for over a year now, management was now certain that it was time to have a grand opening.

“You know every new hotel or international company in the world, you open soft, which means you run the establishment for six months or even one year before your actual launch; and that is what we did.  What we did was a soft opening to test and taste the facility, to improve on training of our staff and all sorts of things. When we were sure that this hotel was ready to go, we decided to have the grand opening,” he added.

Scenes from Royal Senchi

Since the 4-star hotel hosted President John Dramani Mahama and a host of dignitaries at the three-day National Economic Forum which took place in May this year, Royal Senchi has become a household name in Ghana. 

“The Senchi consensus was a good mileage. It was a mileage to publish our hotel not only in Ghana but to publish Senchi.  When I came to Ghana two years ago, I realised everybody in Ghana knows Adomi Bridge. I said to myself that one day before I leave Ghana, I will make sure every Ghanaian knows Senchi; and of course, it is my deepest wish if people will recognise Senchi, the town, and the famous hotel. To be honest, I believe what we have here now can be compared to very good international hotels even in South Africa which is Africa’s big tourist destination,” he said.

However, Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, Minister of Tourism who cut tape to officially open the hotel, disclosed that the tourism sector is essentially a public sector-led and private sector-driven industry which requires huge investors to push the promising tourism industry in this country in the right direction.

“The tourism sector as we all know is essentially a public sector-led and private sector-driven industry. Huge investors, such as this one, are what we need to push the promising tourism industry in this country in the right direction. Most of the investments in the tourism sector are cited in major cities and urban areas. It is a credit to the founder’s foresight, determination, passion and sacrifice that they chose to enter this unchartered territory by locating the facility here,” she said.

The event was graced by the Paramount Chief of Akwamu Traditional Area, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III and the Eastern Regional Minister, Antwi Boasiako Sekyere, among others.