Stanbic Bank Ghana and Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism has partnered to attract Chines tourist. 

The drive to make Ghana a preferred tourism destination will encourage Chinese tourists to visit the country with attractive offers like discounts and special offers whenever they use ICBC cards at selected travel, hospitality and lifestyle merchants once they visit.

Speaking to Joy Business on the ‘I Go Ghana’ loyalty programme, the Group Head Card and Emerging Payments, Lincoln Mali, said the programme is to strengthen relations between Ghana and China through trade and tourism.

“The Standard Bank group is one of the biggest banks in the world and it has partnered the biggest bank in the world ICBC from China.

“This means the level of the tourist from China to Ghana is going to go up and that is good for the economy and help create employment. When they come to Ghana our clients and Merchants will benefit as the two banks also benefit.”

According to him, “China has emerged as a key economic partner for Africa in recent years and through the programme, Standard Bank wants to strengthen relations between Ghana and China through trade and tourism. Such an arrangement we believe is good for the tourism industry and the economies of the two countries”.

Group Head Card and Emerging Payments of the Standard Bank Group disclosed that they has been working to enable the acceptance of Union Pay International cards on their Point of Sale devices.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Alhassan Andani said they believe in driving the country’s growth.

“We see this partnership to bring Ghana and China closer as an opportunity to unlock the untapped potential that contact between the two countries offers.

“Deepening Ghana-Sino contacts will undoubtedly deliver even more benefits to the economy and underline our total commitment to driving growth,” he added.

For his part, the Tourism Minister Catherine Afeku said the partnership shows that tourism is undoubtedly the most promising sector of the country’s economy.

"We are excited about this initiative by the two banks. China remains an important inbound destination for us and we have taken appropriate steps and measures to ensure that the local industry is well equipped to host the Chinese traveller.

“This collaboration further opens up the opportunity for us to enter the Chinese market, and ensure that Ghana remains an interesting and enticing destination" Source: myjoyonline.com