Accra, June 08, GNA – The Paramount Chief of Efutu Traditional Area, Neenyi Ghartey VII, has given his blessings to this year’s Youth in Tourism Festival (YOTOFEST ‘22’), to be held in Winneba.
The week-long festival, jointly organised by the Tourism Society of Ghana (TOSOGHA) and the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), would commence on July 19 to July 24, on the theme, “Youth, tourism and sanitation”.
Neenyi Ghartey VII gave his seal of approval when organisers of the festival paid a courtesy call on him, on Wednesday, to officially inform him about the festival.
The Paramount Chief said he was very enthused about the prospect YOTOFEST ‘22’ had for opening the area up for tourism activities.
“This is a great initiative and a wonderful one for our youth and tourism, that is why I am happy Winneba is hosting it and I assure you of my full support,” he said.
Neenyi Ghartey VII added that he was optimistic of a very successful event, saying that Winneba would want to annex the festival in future.
Mr Joseph Amartey, President, TOSOGHA, said this year’s celebration marked the third edition since its inception in 2018, but Winneba was hosting it for the second time.
He said it was necessary to formally inform the Paramount Chief because he was the overlord of the Winneba land and because he was passionate about youth and tourism related activities.
Mr Amartey assured the Chief that, as industry players, they wanted to bridge the gap between industry and academia and as such were bringing on board people within both the formal and informal sector to enlighten the youth about what the prospects in the industry.
He urged the people of Winneba and its environs especially the youth to be involved in the celebration to learn more about Ghana’s tourism potentials in order to promote it.
Activities lined up for this year’s celebration include, an opening ceremony, exhibition and summit on July 19, youth engagement, tourism business investor pitch and business incubation on July 20, townhall durbar on July 21, “the big tree tour awards and gala night” on July 22, cleanup exercise and beach arts festival on July 23 and thanksgiving service on July 24.
GNA