Catherine Afeku, Minister of Tourism
In what industry players describe as a vote of confidence in Ghana, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has selected the country as the centre of excellence for the training of tourism professionals throughout West Africa.
The UNWTO’s decision has been communicated to Ghana’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture in a letter signed by its out-going Secretary-General, Dr Taleb Rifai in a letter from its headquarters in Madrid, Spain.
Disclosing the content of the letter to the DAILY GUIDE yesterday, the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Catherine Abelema Afeku, said the UN body had mandated Ghana to set up a Regional Centre for Tourism and Hotel Training Institute to be incorporated within an existing university or training institution.
The letter said the world body “will work alongside your team to guide and support in the establishment of the regional training centre to serve, not only the West African sub-region but Africa at large”.
Negotiations leading to the formal appointment on Ghana comes after what the world body described as “our very fruitful meeting held on the margins of the 59th UNWTO CAF meeting on April 9, 2017 in Addis Ababa.”
It said Ghana was selected because the world body was satisfied that “the Government of Ghana has committed itself to a planned approach to the development of the tourism sector through the implementation of a national Tourism Development Plan, a plan that has positioned the sector as a consistent driver of growth and development, as evidenced by the increases in public and private sector investments in facilities, arrivals and receipts, employment and contribution to gross domestic product (GDP)”
It hoped that under the leadership and wide experience of Mrs Afeku, “this initiative will reinforce Ghana’s leadership role in the Africa Region and at the global level in promoting sustainable tourism development” – reference to the current Minister’s background as a hospitality specialist, having graduated from one of Switzerland’s prestigious hotel and tourism universities.
Capacity building has been listed among the Minister’s five-point plan for tourism development for the next four years. Mrs Afeku said the Ministry itself had developed plans to put up a state-of-the-art hospitality training school accredited to offer degrees and diplomas as well as refresher courses.
Mrs Afeku said training for decision makers in the national, regional and local tourism administrations was of utmost importance to develop and implement effective tourism strategies urgently needed to ensure destination competitiveness and sustainability.
Conctacted for his comment, Okatakyie Nana Anim, president of the Ghana Tourism Federation, said this decision was a vote of confidence in Ghana. “The fact that Ghana has mertited this appointment in spite of the existence of similar institutes in Africa, is an endorsement by the world body of the efforts our country is putting in to link tourism with national development.”