Dr Mohammed Awal
The 2022 edition of the annual week-long festival, Youth In Tourism Festival (YOTOFEST) slated for June, 2022, has been launched.
The launch ceremony, which is the third edition of the festival, took place at the North Campus Mini-Conference Room of UEW.
Organised by Taskforce of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) in collaboration with the Tourism Society of Ghana and SHAPE Attitude Ghana, the festival is on the theme: “The Youth, Tourism and Sanitation.”
The 2022 edition of the festival, according to the organisers, will be held at the University of Education, Winneba.
It the first for the Central Region and would be a flagship at the regional level, allowing young participants to be part of a unique experience aimed at promoting youth engagement in the tourism sector and empowering younger generations to initiate more sustainable domestic tourism promotions.
It would also enhance youth empowerment and engagement in tourism, create tourism business incubation hubs and partnerships for the youth, as well as participation in the activities of international youth tourism associations, international non-governmental youth organisations among others.
The festival would also promote regular programme of student exchanges, aimed at giving opportunities to young people from different backgrounds to get to know each other and to foster inter cultural learning, as well as promote domestic tourism among the youth.
Supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the festival will have aboard top-notch personalities to share their experiences on tourism, creative arts, tourism promotion and education.
Launching the festival, the Director of Tourism at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Nana K. Kankam, who launched it on behalf of the Tourism Minister, Ibrahim Awal Mohammed, said that tourism could not exist without the environment.
He specified that there was a symbiotic relationship between the environment and tourism. “So, in its absence, you cannot operate tourism; therefore, if the environment is not clean, neat or it’s not supportive, life cannot trend.”
The Ag. Dean of Student Affairs, UEW, Dr. Bernard B. B. Bingab, revealed that UEW had invested heavily to ensure that its campuses were litter-free.
“We are expecting every Tom, Dick and Harry to be part of ensuring that our immediate environment is clean.”
The Chief Executive Officer of SHAPE Attitude Ghana, Mr. Wonderful Baisie Ghartey, on his part, said that several studies had shown that sanitation is the best investment for tourism, adding attaining hygiene and sanitation was critical for promoting tourism.
There were other addresses by representatives of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Tourism Society of Ghana, Ghana Tourism Development Company and T. T. Brothers Limited.
By George Clifford Owusu