AN 18-member inter-ministerial committee on tourism has been inaugurated in Accra to serve as an advisory body to the Ministry of Tourism.
The committee, which is also a decision-making body, is expected to help in the implementation of programmes and activities necessary to facilitate tourism development and growth for the benefit of the economy.
Some of the ministries constituting the committee include, Transport, Roads and Highways, Chieftaincy and Culture, Trade and Industries, Interior, Local Government and Rural Development, Health, Education and Lands and Natural Resources.
Inaugurating the committee, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Minister of Tourism, said the tourism industry had great potential to create jobs and generate foreign exchange.
Records at the Ministry of Tourism indicate that a total of 232,883 jobs were generated by the tourism industry last year, representing an increase over the figure of 229,663 for 2007
In addition, the country realised US$ 1.3 million from the 698,069 international tourists who arrived in the country in 2008, making the industry the fourth highest foreign exchange earner after gold, cocoa and remittances from Ghanaians abroad.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah said the inauguration marked a significant beginning of effective collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism and other ministries as well as the private sector to promote health, eco and agro tourism in the country.
She said the tourism sector had demonstrated enough potential to contribute to poverty reduction in the country.
She pointed out that the concerted efforts of the inter-ministerial committee could lead to infrastructure improvement such as better water and sewerage systems, roads, electricity, telephone and public transport networks in the host communities.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah said when tourism was well co-ordinated it could be a viable tool for the conservation of the environment and preservation of local cultures,especially with the development of community-based eco-tourism programmes and projects.
She reminded the 18 ministries constituting the committee on tourism that tourism had a catalytic role to stimulate the growth of other sectors,notably the construction, agriculture, manufacturing, transport, food processing, handicrafts and entertainment industries.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah said it had been proved in many countries that the more these linkages could be forged the greater the benefits to the wider economic development and poverty reduction.
She said the mandate of the inter-ministerial committee, therefore, would serve as a platform to strengthen collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism and other ministries, departments, agencies as well as solicit their support in the development and promotion of tourism.
She said the government could use the forum to sensitise the relevant organisations to the needs of the tourism sector.
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