Dr. Ziblim Iddi Barri (2nd right) speaking at the ceremony
The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture has officially inaugurated the planning committee for this year’s World Tourism Day (WTD) Celebration which is slated for September 27.
WTD is an international event held annually by the tourism industry all over the world.
The purpose of the celebration is to raise awareness on the role of tourism within the international community and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide.
The event seeks to address global challenges outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and to highlight the contribution the tourism sector can make in reaching these goals.
This year’s celebration is on the theme “Building Peace: Fostering Knowledge”.
Speaking at the inauguration of the committee, the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ziblim Iddi Barri, charged them to live up to their bidding in making the forthcoming event a memorable one.
He said even with the Covid-19 pandemic on hand, the committee must strive to further market Ghana on the global map.
This according to him, it would further improve Ghana’s image considering the huge success the nation had chalked in the Year of Return Programme by attracting both international and local tourists to Ghana’s attraction sites.
The Deputy Minister said globally tourism had been viewed as a lead sector for the economic growth and developmental transformational agenda since it had the propensity to create jobs and accelerate infrastructure development.
He urged the committee to discharge their duties diligently and ensure that the celebration became a success.
On her part, Mrs Bella Ahu, President of the Ghana Tourism Federation, who is also co-chairperson of the planning committee, assured the Deputy Ministry that the committee would deliver on its mandate to achieve the overall goal of making the forthcoming celebration huge success.
By George Clifford Owusu