Business News of Friday, 17 August 2007

Source: Ewusie MENSAH

Exhibitors at grand sales disappointed

The 2007 Grand Sales program of the Ghana Trade Fair Company has come and gone without many Ghanaians knowing about it. Even those who got to hear about it were like many of the exhibitors who took part very disappointed.

As some exhibitors packed their wares at the end of the fair, they did so frustratingly as many of them had nothing to show in terms of returns.

To be expected, they blamed the Ghana Trade Fair Authority for the disappointment, with many complaining about poor publicity and marketing of the fair.

They told the dailyEXPRESS that the event was hardly advertised in the media, as a result many people did not know there was a fair on-going. Interestingly, many people dailyEXPRESS asked about the fair said they were hearing about the Grand Sales 2007 for the first time.

The few people who made it to the fair also complained about the high cost of goods at the fair. “Fair’s generally have reduced prices and good discounts, but not in Ghana” some patrons said.

The exhibitors in turn blamed it on the high cost of having a stand at the fair grounds and the general cost of goods in the country. In the end exhibitors observed that they wasted their time registering for the fair as it made no impact on their business.