The Ministry of Tourism is to pool resources with three other ministries to support the implementation of a tourism action plan aimed at making the sector a leading foreign exchange earner in the country.
The Minister of Tourism, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah, who announced this in Accra, mentioned that under the programme the ministry would work in collaboration with the ministries of Information, Chieftaincy and Culture, and Foreign Affairs to co-ordinate efforts to enhance the sharing of information on tourism and the organisation of training programmes, and bring the expertise of the four ministries and that of the private sector to bear on tourism.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah announced this when she launched a special Tourism Conference and Exhibition in Accra, as part of activities marking this year’s International World Tourism Day Celebrations to be hosted by Ghana in September 2009.
She said Ghana would host the event on the theme “Tourism Celebrating Diversity” and indicated that the programme would demonstrate the enormous business and investment opportunity that the tourism sector creates for Ghanaian entrepreneurs and for the communities in terms of job creation.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah said the role of the private sector in developing and packaging unique products and services for tourists could not be underestimated, stressing that the ministry was convinced that given the right co-operation, the sector could move from the current fourth position to become the largest foreign exchange earner and employment generator in the next few years.
She explained that all the major players such as operators of hotel accommodation, food providers, transport managers, recreation and entertainment service providers and event managers were expected to play their rightful role in advancing the country’s tourism for their own mutual benefits.
Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said ambassadors and High Commissioners would need to have a fair idea about the importance of tourism to the national economy, adding that the objective was to remind them of the government’s strategy to pursue economic diplomacy that would attract foreign investors and tourists into the country.
He indicated that developing the country’s tourism sector was necessary to diversify the country’s economy and reduce her dependence on the export of traditional crops such as cocoa and timber.
Mrs Zita Okaikoi, Minister of Information, chaired the ceremony.
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