By Daniel Adu Darko
Accra, July 21, GNA- The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal has charged the steering committee of the Public-Private Partnership Forum Office of the Ghana Tourism Authority to iron out the differences among the stakeholders.
The Forum, Dr Mohammed Awal explained was the platform for the stakeholders to shape and sustain the tourism and hotel industries by addressing every challenge hindering the growth of the sector and is a quarterly event, October 2022 as the last time it took place.
Speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the Ghana Hotel Association (GHA) third National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, 2023 on the theme “Sustaining the Hotel Industry in Ghana Post COVID-19”, Dr Awal threatened to take disciplinary action against the steering committee if they fail to convene the forum to map out a strategy to position the tourism sector at the top in West Africa.
“Ghana is one of the 13 countries identified this year as the best places to visit in the world. And if we don’t hold public-private partnership discussions, how do we iron out our differences and look at the way forward? We need to meet halfway to make this sector the best in West Africa”, he said.
He said it was the dream of the Akufo Addo government to position Ghana as the first country in West Africa in terms of tourism as the country was touted as peaceful with a good legal system with friendly people.
He added that it was the wish of the government through the tourism and cultural industry to make Ghana the centre for meetings, conferences and events.
Touching on job creation, Dr Awal said the tourism industry was the best job avenue to create about 150,000 jobs per annum as the World Tourism Council had indicated that three (3) out of every ten (10) jobs for the next 10 years was created by the sector.
“I want to urge you to help the government to create 150,000 jobs per annum; it can be done”, he advised.
He however noted that 1.2 million people from abroad had been targeted to visit the country and also 1.2 million people domestically have been targeted to patronise inbound tourism.
He underscored that domestic tourism would help boost the local economy and strengthen the hotel industry as people would buy gifts and go to the markets as well as book hotels to stay a bit longer to enjoy the tourist sites.
He, therefore cautioned the hoteliers to practise environmental tourism by making sure the environments they operated in were clean to sustain the interest of the tourists.
He charged the hoteliers to source their products from the local communities and also entertain their guests with Ghanaian cultural troops and musicians.
“Also help us to be the avenue for tourism, culture and music. When people come to your hotels, entertain them with our cultural troops and music from our musicians. Create experiences for our visitors; that is how you sell culture and unearth creativity”, he advised.
The Public-Private Partnership Forum on Tourism established under Article 42 of the Tourism Act is to engage the private sector to discuss pertinent issues that impact the development of the tourism sector in Ghana.
It has been organised by the Public-Private Partnership Forum Office of the Ghana Tourism Authority under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
GNA