June 15, 2021
By: Audrey John
The Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, and the National Tourist Board have continued their Regional Marketing and Branding Consultative Workshop with JOURNEY and ACORN Marketing Consultants in Bo, Southern Region. The engagement was held at Dohas Hotel in Bo on the 12th June 2021.
The Marketing Manager of the National Tourist Board (NTB), Lucinda Kargbo said that the purpose of the workshop was to have a consultative marketing and branding strategy that will promote Sierra Leone as a tourism destination. She added that with support from the World Bank, the Sierra Leone Economic Diversification Project, (SLEDP) was able to consult the JOURNEY and ACORN team from South Africa to prepare the Marketing and Branding Strategy for Sierra Leone.
She asked the participants to showcase tourism assets that can be added to the marketing strategy and how they want tourism to look like in their region.
Mike Fabricius, the Lead Consultant told the participants that the workshop is aimed at getting information from them that will be used to help bring people to Sierra Leone. He said the International Marketing and Branding Strategy will be a document that has a clear plan of action to promote Sierra Leone.
He explained that a brand is a promise and becomes prominent when it fulfills its intended purpose.
As according to him, there should be a message on why visitors should come to Sierra Leone instead of other countries.
In their discussions, the participants said that the Southern Region has plenty to offer to attract visitors.
They highlighted their hospitality, wonderful beaches, the kangari Hills, mining sites, the islands, the great Bo School, the Madam Yoko grave site, Turma Bum Rice plantation, growth center, good research opportunities , heritage writing, the PZ building and their breath taking rivers.
In order to better develop and present these attractions to visitors, participants agreed that there should be accessible roads to tourist sites, no intimidation, awesome eco-friendly sites that reflect local, cultural and traditional content, strengthen security, electricity and regional research sites. And that the utilization of social media, newspapers, radio discussions, flyers and billboards are crucial to get people to know more about their region.