Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mohammed Ibrahim Awal, has hinted that Government is putting measures in place to increase jobs in the tourism sector to a million in the medium term.
According to him, his outfit intended to achieve that feat by adding to the existing 670,000 sustainable jobs through the development of tourist sites to boost domestic tourism.
The Minister made these known when he paid a courtesy call on the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, in Kyebi over the weekend as part of his working tour of the area.
The purpose of the visit was to tour some of the tourist sites, talk to industry players, assess the current situation, and plan to improve them for economic development.
He explained that the ministry had begun the redevelopment of some existing tourist sites across the country, as well as exploring new sites to attract more international tourists.
He said plans are far advanced for all roads leading to tourist sites in the county to be fixed as a step to improve tourism infrastructure as well as patronage.
He hinted that processes had begun to identify and develop two iconic tourists sites in the Eastern Region to international standards.
He observed that the Covid-19 pandemic had dealt a huge blow to the tourism sector disclosing that the sector recorded a decline of over one million tourist visits in 2019 to less than 300,000 tourists in 2020 “undoubtedly this has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs as well, aside from all others” he added.
The Minister who later visited the Boti falls and the Bunso Arboretum urged the management of Boti falls to gear up towards infrastructure improvement.
As part of the initiative to expand the tourism sector to create more jobs and generate more revenue, the Minister appealed to the Okyenhene to propose two untapped tourist sites in the Akyem Abuakwa State to be developed by the government, in collaboration with the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong emphasized that the Eastern Region has the rich potential in tourism and called on the industry players to invest in the sector to boost the economy.
He said the Region arguably has the highest tourism attraction sites in the country such as Eco-Tourism, Hotels, Festivals, Musicians, food joints, etc., that needed to be marketed or publicized for both local and foreign patronage.
Okyenhene
The Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Ofori Panin urged the minister to remain focused and do well to leave behind physical structures for which his tenure and that of the President could be remembered.
On the proposal for two tourist sites in the municipality, the Okyenhene asked the minister to take advantage of the rich Atiwa Forest, which contains different species of wildlife, to construct a national park there.
Okyenhene said the park should also come with a museum that projected the rich culture, history, and artifacts of Okyeman, also called for the expansion of the Bunso Eco Park to attract more tourists.
Dr Awal was accompanied by the Deputy Tourism Minister, Mark Okraku Mantey; the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Akwasi Agyeman; and the Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong.
FROM Daniel Bampoe, Kyebi