Catherine Afeku and Hohoe MCE, Teddy Ofori
Minister for Tourism, Catherine Afeku, has expressed worry about revenue collection and management at the various tourist sites in the country.
This, according to her, has hampered development at tourist sites in the country.
Ms Afeku made the disclosure when she led officers from the ministry and some tourism ambassadors to the Wli Waterfalls in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region.
Revenue is collected at most tourist sites always, but there is little development at the sites, she added.
The host communities have formed management committees that have employed tour guides and staff to collect revenue and maintain the tourist sites.
The monies are shared at the end of the month based on an agreed formula which benefits the assembly, chiefs, management committee, among others.
The sharing formula differs in various communities, but a chunk of the funds goes to the management committees through the chiefs, family or clan heads, who are the custodians of the land.
Even though the arrangement is meant to give members of the communities a sense of ownership, they have failed to properly manage the sites which are deteriorating.
Owing to the development, Mrs Afeku has embarked on a campaign to improve revenue collection and management at the various tourist sites to transform them into world-class destinations.
She supervised the deployment of an automated payment system at Wli to maximise revenue mobilization.
Three tourism ambassadors, Van Vicker, Edem and Lucky Mensah, accompanied the Minister to the site.
They urged the people to help the Ministry to achieve its aim of improving the tourism sector in the country.
Teddy Ofori, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Hohoe, reiterated the commitment of the assembly to providing all the necessary logistics and support to sustain the new system.
He called on the community and all stakeholders to be cooperative.