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The Ghana Tourism Development Company (GTDC) has launched an initiative aimed at aggregating transportation services in the tourism sector.
The platform, which is known as the “Fleet pool Management Services (FPMS), is aimed at ensuring safe and reliable transportation, providing cost-effective transportation services for tourists.
The FPMS will also serve as a platform for drivers to access services and opportunities, regardless of whether they own a car.
So far, 12 private companies have registered to participate in the initiative.
Services such as airport pickups, cross-country tourism, and city tours using various cars, including salon cars, buses, will be offered.
The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, who launched the initiative in Accra yesterday, commended GTDC for working to meet the robust demands of modern tourism transportation and for believing in public-private partnerships as a pathway to national development.
She described the initiative as a visionary platform, marking a turning point towards delivering the Black Star experience.
“The platform seeks to streamline tourist mobility across our rich and diverse destinations while promoting driving standards and ensuring compliance with national regulations in both the tourist and transportation sectors.
“It leverages GTDC's distributive reach and operational credibility to support a public-private partnership framework, allowing the government and private sector to combine efforts in delivering quality and content transport tourism,” she added.
Ms Gomashie indicated that the FPMS was not just about vehicles but about values, professionalism, reliability, partnership and progress.
“It is about building a system that reflects the excellence of Ghana's tourism brand and supports the goal of positioning Ghana as a preferred destination in West Africa and beyond,” she stated.
The minister, however, called for the country to partner with other countries to have more direct flights to African neighbours, stating that travelling in Africa was exhausting and expensive.
She further called on players in the tourism industry to be intentional in positioning tourism to take the lead in bringing the GDP that this country needed.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GTDC, Prof. Kobby Mensah, said the GTDC would ensure compliance with GTA laws, maintain car quality, and organise training for drivers.
He said the GTDC would ensure rigorous registration processes for car rental providers by reviewing their documentation and signing them up through the proper processes.
He indicated that car owners would be responsible for the maintenance of the vehicles while the GTDC would focus on driver quality and training to ensure quality services.
He called on interested parties to apply through their website or social media platform, explaining that a rigorous framework has been put in place to ensure that their partners meet the necessary documentation and registration requirements.
Prof. Mensah added that a driver database was being built to include expert drivers who had undergone special training and orientation.
He encouraged potential drivers to reach out through social media or their website for more information and to join the programme.
The Deputy CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Abeiku Santana, also commended the GTDC and expressed gratitude for the support from the private sector and the government to promote the country’s tourism digitally and collaboratively.
