Mr. Ralph Ayitey, Chief Executive Officer of the Coconut Grove Hotel Group, has urged Ghanaian businesses to refrain from inflating prices during festive seasons, describing the practice as short-sighted and harmful to long-term growth.
He encouraged businesses to use festive periods as opportunities to attract new customers, build brand loyalty, and expand market share sustainably.
Mr. Ayitey made the call at the hotel’s annual year-end customer appreciation event. Addressing guests, Mr. Ayitey criticised the widespread practice of hiking prices during Christmas and other festive periods.
“We cannot use Christmas simply as a catalyst for boosting our bottom line through overpricing,” he said, noting that such approaches erode customer trust and weaken brand loyalty.
He stressed the importance of leveraging festive seasons as market penetration opportunities, particularly for businesses with underperforming products.
“It is important that we use festivities as an opportunity for market penetration activity,” he said, urging businesses to offer reasonable margins and compelling value propositions that naturally attract customers.
According to him, the objective should be to gain customers who remain loyal long after the festivities, rather than driving them away through inflated prices. His remarks also formed part of a broader appeal for businesses to reduce prices in response to the recent appreciation of the cedi against the dollar.
Mr. Ayitey expressed strong support for the “Black Star Experience,” an initiative aimed at promoting domestic tourism and Ghanaian culture. He said the programme had significant potential to showcase local food, textiles and creative arts but faced challenges related to access to raw materials.
He again emphasised the need to build a profitable and efficient value chain from farm to consumer to minimise losses and ensure reliable market access.
Presenting Coconut Grove as a practical example, Mr. Ayitey said the hotel consumes about 9,000 locally sourced chickens every month, in contrast to other establishments that rely heavily on imports.
Dr. Nana Kweku Nduom, President of Groupe Nduom Ghana, announced that 2026 would be a pivotal year for Coconut Grove to publicly highlight its more than 30-year commitment to local sourcing as a viable and profitable business model.
He said businesses such as the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel were well positioned to benefit from the 24-hour economy initiative and the Black Star Experience.
On broader economic issues, Dr. Nduom also underscored the need for rationalised tax collection and the resolution of systemic inefficiencies, particularly in sectors such as power transmission.
