Around this time last year, many black Americans made their way to Ghana for the Year of Return – a tourism initiative to bring more African Americans into the country to boost the economy and make Ghana the new travel hotspot for black travelers. While the COVID-19 pandemic has canceled many notable live events around the world, including the highly anticipated Afrochella in Ghana, the company is looking for innovative solutions to help its customers stay connected.
Afrochella co-founder Abdul Karim Abdulla said while the pandemic had caused their team to spin, they were already looking for ways to expand their event brand into a virtual space to connect with the diaspora worldwide. “It made us do better,” he said in an interview with BLACK COMPANY about zoom.
“It taught us that we need to have a digital presence.”
Earlier this year, the company hosted the Afrochella Talks virtual event, which served as the first virtual event. Over the Christmas weekend, they hosted the 2020 Afrochella Block Party as their first in-person social distancing event since the annual festival was canceled amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“We knew we didn’t want the year to go by without any kind of activation,” said Abdulla, explaining how this would affect not only her business but also the many local businesses and workers that depend on tourism. They worked closely with the government and the Ministry of Tourism, which strongly encouraged their team to host the event to help local businesses and keep customers safe.
Despite the setbacks, Abdulla says the COVID-19 pandemic has helped his team develop new strategies to protect their customers while using creativity and innovation to find new ways to enjoy live events again.
“Before this pandemic, no one was in a situation where we needed to think about these things,” he said. “We now have strategies for people coming to Ghana [going into the new year]. We are very hopeful with the advancement of these vaccines and the people who receive them that we can have an event very similar to the one in 2019 and still enjoy a live event. “
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