Accomplished communications practitioner and cultural concierge, PaJohn Bentsifi Dadson, has been awarded with a certificate of honour at the 2016 Greater Accra Regional Tourism Awards.

This is in recognition of his "relentless efforts and contribution to the promotion and development of tourism in Ghana."

Instituted by the Ghana Tourism Authority, the regional award project is a precursor to the national awards and seeks to reward establishments and individuals whose operations within the tourism sector seeks to uphold high standards.

This year's awards celebrated under the theme, "Advancing the Gains of Tourism through Quality Service Delivery".

At a ceremony held at Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Accra, PaJohn, who was the only one to receive an honorary award joined several other winners of the competitive category and recipients to pick up their certificates.

His citation read in part, "PaJohn established the Accra Visitor Center on the busy Ring Road Central in (1999) when such a facility was badly needed for the dissemination of tourist information to visitors in the metropolis of Accra.

He continued, in spite of all odds, to feed visitors and locals with information on the city's cultural, arts and entertainment scene through his regular column in the weekend newspaper, The Mirror, under the caption, Bentsifi's Tattle... A Guy About Town'. This proved beneficial as a source of information on " Where to go" and "What to see" as well as upcoming events in Accra and elsewhere."

Mr Dadson continues to be engaged in other exploits to promote domestic tourism, including as the initiator and coordinator of the "See Ghana" crusade which seeks to encourage more local participation in tourism.

A media campaign which includes the organisation of the popular WangoWango road trips to various attractions and destinations in all regions, the "See Ghana" crusade is poised to take off for a third year in an even bigger way.

Brief Profile: PaJohn Bentsifi Dadson
PaJohn Bentsifi Dadson is a Tourism and Communications Practitioner with expertise in media and events management.

He has a demonstrated capacity to lead diverse teams of professionals to new levels of success in an array of highly competitive environments, with technical competencies and a track record of more than 20 years of hands-on experience, particularly in public & media relations, marketing and corporate hospitality, as well as special events and destination management.

PaJohn initiated and operated the first privately run citywide visitor information service for tourists from 1999 – 2009, at the Ghana Tourist Board approved Accra Visitor Centre on Accra’s busy Ring Road Central, Accra.

In 2002, he sought to establish a week-long focus on tourism in the capital with the Center’s ‘Accra Tourism Week’ initiative. Though short-lived, he launched it with a successful photo exhibition which put the focus on the capital’s landmarks.

During that time, he also established himself as on authority on the city’s cultural, arts and entertainment scene through writings in his ‘Guy About Town’ columns in, at various periods over the last 25 years; Bentsifi’s Diary in “Weekend Chronicle”, Bentsifi’s Diary in “Ghana Weekly” (a Ghanaian community newspaper in London) Bentsifi’s Buffs in “The Accra Mail”, Bentsifi in “Ovation West Africa” and currently Bentsifi’s Tattle in “The Mirror” newspapers all in Accra.

He was the first Communications Director at Charterhouse and successfully led the team that managed the ‘hostile media’ for the Ghana Music Awards through the initial ‘rocky period’ to establish the event/awards as a credible resource for Ghanaian musicians. In 2007, he was the media consultant for ‘Ghana as One’, the ‘unofficial’ Golden Jubilee dinner party at the Independence Square to celebrate Ghana’s 50th independence anniversary.

With a keen interest in cultural activism, PaJohn is currently the leader of the media task team of the Ghana Culture Forum – a national civil society consultative forum on culture and development, as well as the media coordinator for Accra Culture & Arts Network (Accra CAN) - a network of cultural institutions united to promote our city as a vibrant Cultural Capital in Africa.

For PaJohn, promoting Ghana’s tourism is a ‘labour of love’. In 2015, believing that promoting Ghana’s tourism lies with every citizen, even as the public-sector grapples with ways to effectively consolidate the sector, he forged a coalition to help bridge the gap with the formation of the ‘Tourism Marketing Alliance Ghana’, (TMAG) which sought to stimulate domestic tourism.

Together with a network of high profile media partners including Joy 99.7FM and The Mirror newspaper, and his destination management resource, Bentsifi as alliance members, they launched the ‘See Ghana’ domestic tourism crusade, a media campaign to create greater awareness of our tourism.

On the forefront of the domestic tourism movement, ‘See Ghana’ created an opportunity for the capital’s residents to experience our heritage and hospitality, as well as to make tourism ambassadors of them through the regular scheduled “WangoWango” road trips.

A happy spirit who enjoys being part of a successful and productive team and who thrives well in challenging working environments, PaJohn lists his interests as geography, anthropology, sociology, journalism, tourism and self-development. His hobbies include travel, reading, art, writing, swimming, cooking & cuisine, nature & outdoor living, dancing, meeting people and sharing ideas.

Fluent in English, Fanti & Twi, PaJohn is the Principal at Bentsifi Consultancy, a tourism and communications firm. He is well informed in brand awareness and reputation management, and also uses his wide network in Ghana’s social circle to assist individuals and organizations with their communications and hospitality solutions.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Entrepreneurship from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

Myjoyonline.com