By Hafsa Obeng
Accra, June 22, GNA – The Tourism Society of Ghana (TOSOGHA), in partnership with the Ghana Tourism Authority and the Ghana Education Service, has re-launched tourism clubs in educational institutions to help boost domestic tourism.
The re-launch on the theme: “Tourism Clubs: A Relevant Channel for Rethinking Domestic Tourism,” is aimed at rejuvenating the tourism clubs in the various educational institutions and expand their operations to the newly created regions as well as roll out the third and fourth quarter and 2024 programmes and activities.
Mr Joseph Amartey, Executive Director, TOSOGHA, said the Society was established in 2006 as a social humanitarian organization with the mission to promote domestic tourism from the grassroots and among the youth, though advocacy, social interventions, training, education and consultancy.
He said TOSOGHA was operational at three levels namely basic and secondary chapter, tertiary chapter and public or corporate chapter, adding that it also involved the formation of tourism clubs at each level where members were involved in diverse activities.
“Our immense contribution to the tourism industry in Ghana has been impactful and has not gone unrecognized. We are proud winners of two state awards from the namely; NGO Promotion of Domestic Tourism (2014) and Tourism Club of the Year (2016).”
Mr Amartey said in 2008, TOSOGHA embarked on a National School Project aimed at promoting domestic tourism from the grassroots executed through the formation of Tourism Clubs within educational institutions, in partnership with Ghana Education Service to carry out various activities.
“The tourism clubs were vibrant until the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic rendering majority of them inactive. However, observing the industry emerging steadily from the pandemic globally and locally, we feel the need to take advantage of this occurrence to rejuvenate the tourism clubs and expand our operations to the newly created regions and roll out our programmes,” he said.
He said the active involvement of the youth in the tourism sector would lead to a drastic change in domestic tourism.
“We take this opportunity to communicate our sturdy and constant dedication to promote domestic tourism with focus on the youth and support the continuous commitment of the President to use tourism as an instrument to transform the Ghanaian economy.”
Mrs Gifty Twum Ampofo, Deputy Minister of Education in charge of TVET, said in striving to rejuvenate tourism clubs in educational institutions, it was important to develop tourist sites across the country to make them more appealing for the students to visit them.
“Let us try to put our tourist sites in good shape with good road networks, lots of locally made food, good infrastructure and the introduction of our rich culture, in order to encourage the children to know more about the country,” she said.
She said, “if children are enlightened about the importance of visiting tourist sites, they will always want to visit, adding that developing the habit of visiting sites is a form of relaxation and leisure to release some tension from school, work and family and it can generate revenue for the country.”
Mrs Ampofo urged industry players to open up their facilities for TVET students to be able to have their internships there to be able to have hands-on experience about the industry, as tourism and TVET were intertwined.
Mr Ekow Sampson, Deputy Chief Executive Office in Charge of Operation, GTA, said the aims and objectives of TOSOGHA dovetailed into the agenda of the GTA in creating the enabling environment for domestic tourism to thrive in order to create jobs, increase revenue and foreign exchange.
He commended the Society for bringing back the initiative saying, apart from the tourist and attraction sites serving as a repository of knowledge, the student would learn from each other’s culture, history and heritage, thus creating national cohesion.
Mr Sampson said the students, exposed to the various tourist sites, would serve as a point of reference for future tourism promotion through word of mouth and urged parents and stakeholders to support the initiative.
Members of the new governing board of TOSOGHA were later sworn into office. They include Mr Joseph Amartey, TOSOGHA, Mr Charles Buabin, GTA, Mr Ahmed Naaman, Dodi Travel and Tours, Madam Ester Apppau, Ghana Police Service, and Ms Hanna Asiedu, TOSOGHA.
GNA