Barbara Oteng-Gyasi
Minister of Tourism, Creative Arts & Culture, Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, recently visited some tourist sites in Accra to assess the readiness of facilities to accommodate the number of tourists who will visit the country in the ‘Year of Return’.
The minister was accompanied by some directors of the ministry, who visited the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, Osu Castle and W. E Dubois Centre.
Issues of understaffing, low patronage and poor management plans were highlighted as some common challenges facing the sites visited.
Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi, in an interaction with the media, disclosed that plans have been put in place to convert the Osu Castle into a Museum of Leadership & Governance, as government was in talk with partners to salvage the situation at the old seat of government.
She further pledged the commitment of her ministry to provide the necessary support towards the rehabilitation and effective management of tourist sites.
The minister also called on the management of all tourist centres to keep sites in good condition, especially when the country will be hosting a lot of pan-African programmes, which are expected to attract a lot of tourists from the Diaspora.
“It is important that we put the place in good shape, so that when they come they get a good experience and back with fantastic reports in order to also drive in more tourists,” she said.
Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi also talked about plans of the ministry to facilitate the passing of the Creative Arts Bill into law, where she is finalising recommendations that were made by Cabinet.
“The issue of copyright in the industry impinges on revenue that artists generate. We are working to comprehensively deal with that to ensure that artists generate the needed revenue from their work,” she stated.
By Issah Mohammed and Susana Amissah Bart-Plange