The Minister for tourism and creative arts,Dr Mohammed Awal have stated that,government is targeting and planning to have at least two iconic tourism sites in each of the 16 regions to promote domestic and international tourism.
According to him,his Ministry is also reviewing the current tourism policy to allow for current demands.
He added that, government will also promote educational tourism where schools can go around the country, business tourism, where private and public institutions will travel to see the country and religious tourism where religious bodies will go to see the country.
“Through that we are creating a sense of national cohesion. We are determined to put tourism on the next level but with the help of supporters and so our doors are opened to help in any form of assistance,” he added
Ghana has launched a new campaign dubbed, ‘Experience Ghana, Share Ghana’ to stimulate domestic and regional tourism. The new campaign which builds on the current ‘See Eat Wear Feel Ghana’ is intended to accelerate the pace of tourism through a renewed focus on both domestic and visitations from the West African region.
The launch of the campaign which took place at the Labadi Beach Hotel on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 saw key industry players including the Tourism Trade Associations, Media, Diplomats, public officials, entertainment celebrities and several other public figures in attendance.
Also in attendance were the Ministers of Roads and Highways, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs and Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration who Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, Ibrahim Mohammed Awal said are partners in developing and growing Ghana’s tourism.
CEO of Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyeman also said the Experience Ghana campaign is based on collaborations, and built on togetherness.
“So the focus is to bring back our numbers pre- Covid-19 days. We know that despite the easing of restrictions we still have a long way to go in bringing in the international arrivals but domestically we know that when we put our minds to it and push we can get the numbers and that is why we are here today,” he said.
The President, whose speech was read by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms. Shirley Ayorkor Botchway disclosed that government has made an additional budgetary allocation of 100 million Ghana Cedis to the Ministry of Tourism Art and Culture to carry out several initiatives aimed at improving accessibility to tourism, marketing brand and promotion strategy and reducing higher cost of doing business in the sector.
“The programme launched today seeks to increase domestic arrivals to 600, 000 by 2022 and one million by 2024 while the West African regional target is to increase arrivals from 180,000 presently to 400,000 by 2024,” the President stated.
The Experience Ghana, Share Ghana campaign will feature various activities spread over a period of 18 months. Some of the activities earmarked include:
• Travel, Share and Win Campaign where people are expected to travel to anywhere in Ghana and share their photos and videos on social media to get a chance to win prizes. Other activities include:
• Discover, Write and Win
• PANAFEST/Emancipation
• Taste of Ghana (Gastronomy Fair)
• Meet In Ghana Travel Show
• See Ghana on STC and VIP coaches
• December-In-Gh.
A double-decker open-air tour bus and mummy truck (Boneshaker) were unveiled to as part of the launch of the campaign. They are to serve as modes of transportation for tours in and around city centres
Story by: Kwaku Stephen
