Akwasi Agyeman
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the Diaspora Affairs of the Office of the President, has revealed the first set of the events ahead of the ‘December in GH’.
According to GTA, it announced a call for entries for event organisers and promoters to submit their proposals for inclusion in the calendar of events.
The GTA portal was opened for submission from May 17 to June 2 for the much anticipated ‘December in GH’ campaign for December 2023.
GTA indicated that out of 128 event proposals received, a total of 92 were endorsed because the event at least aligned with the pillars of ‘Beyond the Return’, which are Experience Ghana, Promote Pan African Heritage and Innovation, Invest in Ghana, Diaspora Pathway to Ghana, Give Back to Ghana, Celebrate Ghana and Brand Ghana, including safety and security plan.
Out of the 92 approved events, Accra had 78 approved events for the December in GH programme. Some of the programmes included Rhythms On Da Runway, Farmers Day Fufu Party, Ghana Cinema Week, Taste Of Ghana 4.0 etc.
For the other regions, the Eastern and Northern Regions had three approved events, Upper East, Volta and Central Region with two, Western and Ashanti regions with one event approved by the December in GH Steering Committee.
Addressing the media, the CEO of GTA, Akwasi Agyeman mentioned that the December in GH has been one of the most successful initiatives to date in terms of international arrivals and tourist expenditures, stimulating the economy since its launch in 2019.
He added that the authority following the opening of the portal would have wished for a fair distribution of approved events across the region, “but it is unfortunate that most of the organisers were unable to take advantage of this year’s December in GH”.
He added that the authority with its supporting partners has agreed to open the portal for two weeks, which starts from August 11 to September 1, to give a chance to event organisers to submit their proposals for approval.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke