The Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management has received a group of tourism students from the DHBW Lörrach, Germany.
The group, which is on an eight (8)-day cultural visit to UCC, was made up of 10 students and two lecturers.
The visit forms part of a Baden-Württemberg funded project aimed at connecting higher education and business between Ghana and Germany.
The tourism students having fun at the beach
The project supervisors: Prof. Issahaku Adam and Dr. Ewoenam Afenyo-Agbe from the University of Cape Coast and Prof. Wendy Fehlner and Prof. Valentin Weislämle from the DHBW Lörrach coordinated the visit over the eight days.
The visiting German delegation was exposed to the animated open-air markets of the Kejetia market in Kumasi to provide them a sense of traditional Ghanaian commerce, and a tour of the evergreen and serene campus of the University of Cape Coast.
The German students at the Elmina Castle
In addition, the group also experienced the breath-taking canopy walkway overlooking the tropical rainforest at the Kakum National Park as well as a walking tour of Elmina town (the first point of contact between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa) and a tour of the Elmina Castle, a former slave castle and a world heritage site that played a key in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
Briefing the media on the visit, the Head of the Department, Prof. Issahaku Adam, said the visiting group also met and interacted with the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences as well as some lecturers of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management of UCC.
Another scene of the students at Elmina Castle
According to him, the German students and their lecturers were excited at the opportunity for immersion into the Ghanaian culture, and the first-hand experience of Ghanaian hospitality.
The delegation, he continued, had the opportunity to gain practical experience and knowledge on the tourism industry in Ghana.
“The collaboration provides an excellent opportunity for tourism students at UCC and the tourism students from DHBW Lörrach to engage and interact to break barriers and stereotypes and explore means of enhancing tourism and tourism businesses in both countries in order to harness its potential for the socio-cultural and economic development of our people,” remarked Prof. Adam.