Tourist Sites in Ghana are undergoing upgrading – Minister

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture is currently embarking on tourist sites upgrades through the provision of visitor receptive facilities, toilet, landscaping, and parking spaces to enhance visitor experience and encourage repeat visits to the tourist sites.

These are some of the measures the Ministry and its implementing Agency, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) is doing to refocus attention on domestic tourism to increase patronage in local tourism following the restrictions on international mobility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responding to a Parliamentary question filed by the Member of Parliament for the Kwadaso Constituency, Dr. Kingsley Nyarko, on the Floor of Parliament on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, indicated that his outfit has been busy finding means to up the numbers of local tourist visits.

Dr. Kingsley Nyarko had inquired about the measures the Ministry has put in place or putting in place to promote and increase domestic tourism.
The Minister told Parliament that, “So far, the following sites have been upgraded: Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm and Exhibition Center; Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary and Cultural Village; Anomabu Heritage Site; and Nzulezu Visitor Facility.

“The following are to be upgraded soon: Yaa Asantewa Heritage Museum Rehabilitation Project, Ejisu; Pikworo Heritage and Slave Market; Bonwire Kente Museum; Aburi Botanical Garden; Zenga Crocodile Pond, Paga; Salaga Slave Market; Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum; and Craft Village Upgrades.”

He said, to create awareness on the need for Ghanaians to patronize the country’s tourist and attraction sites, a Domestic Tourism campaign was launched by His Excellency the President on 1st June, 2021.

“The campaign dubbed ‘ExperienceghanaShareghana’ is on-going. A Travel, Share and Win component of the campaign was also initiated to drive the ExperienceGhana, ShareGhana Diomestic Tourism. Dicover, Write and Win promotion is about to start. The public is required to select a tourist site or a must-see activity in their communities and write about it in such a way that it would attract visitors for tourism purposes.”

Other measures taken tot boost domestic tourism, according to the Minister, include: the formation of Tourist Clubs across the Tertiary Institutions, Senior and Junior High Schools though partnerships with the Tourism Society of Ghana; a collaboration among GTA, Tour Operators Union of Ghana and Ghana Hotels Association to package tours at affordable rates to various tourist sites.

He indicated also that, a Tourist Bus (Coach) has been acquired by GTA to promote City Tours starting from Accra. This is to be replicated in major cities in Ghana.

“So far, several people have patronized the Accra City Tour. We expect patronage to go up significantly during the Christmas holidays,” he said.

Source: Clement Akoloh||parliamentnews360.com