Ms Dzifa Gomashie, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, has appealed to hotel owners to be innovative by coming out with unique customer care that would live lasting impression on the minds of clients, especially foreigners, who patronize the services.

She said such care would not only live lasting impressions, but would also serve as another means of selling Ghana to the outside world.

Ms Gomashie said this on Wednesday, during the media launch of the Service Excellence Ambassadors Foundation (SEAF), which was under the auspices of the Ghana Tourism Foundation (GHATOF) and would seek to promote good customer care in the hospitality sector.

She called for attitudinal change among Ghanaians in the area of environment sanitation to attract foreign investment.

She appealed to those who have concerns about the negative activities of some hotels in the country to endeavour to report them to the Ghana Tourism Authority.

Mr Caleb Kofie, the Executive Director, called on stakeholders in the hospitality sector to see customer service as one of the avenues which could help rake in foreign currency for the country “as a happy foreign customer would always love to come back.”

He said SEAF was established in 2013 to serve as the mouthpiece of those in the hospitality sector as well as ensure the prevalence of good customer care practices in the country.

He noted that the SEAF would organize series of programmes including seminars, health walks and fora among others with the sole aim of educating industry players on the need to pay particular attention to good customer care.

Mrs Margarette Techie Micah, the Chief Executive Officer, Nest of Ideas consulting Limited, which trains people in customer care, called on company owners to endeavour to invest in training their staff in customer care.

She advised service providers to always endeavour to use words such as “please” and “thank you when addressing their customers, maintain eye contact when addressing them as well as avoid lateness since these were some of the habits which does not augur well for good customer care.