World Tourism Day activities start with exhibition
Accra, Sept. 22, Ghanadot/GNA
– A week long tourism exhibition opened on Tuesday to
officially kick-start activities to mark World Tourism Day
celebrations.
Ghana’s Minister of Tourism, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah, beat
the drums to signify the official opening of the event.
The spectacular exhibition showcased Ghana’s culture and
tourism attractions from various regions amidst drumming and
dancing, with colourful wall paintings and crafts including
beads, Ghanaian clothing, sandals, Ghanaian dishes, hotels,
restaurants and airlines.
Mrs. Azumah-Mensah called on visitors to the exhibition to
make time to visit the various stands to observe the diverse
aspects of Ghanaian culture and purchase artefacts,
souvenirs and collectibles that would hold the memory of the
event.
Mrs. Mawuko Fummey, an Exhibitor and Tourism Advisor at SNV-Netherlands
Development Organization, said the organisation was
established to promote tourism as a development vehicle for
poverty reduction with the potential to generate economic,
social and environmental benefits for Ghanaians.
“In Ghana, the Netherlands Development Organization is
offering various capacity development services to major
stakeholders in the tourism industry through a number of
interventions,” she said.
She appealed to government and relevant decision makers to
make the tourism sector a priority in Ghana’s development
planning, adding that the industry was bound to generate
enormous economic and social benefits for the people of
Ghana.
Ms. Cynthia Awuni of SavannaLand, an organization committed
to the promotion of tourists’ attractions in Northern Ghana,
said she hoped that after the exhibition, tourists’ visits
up country would scale up.
“We also expect the private sector to come and do business
there; we want more hotels, restaurants, good roads and a
lot of infrastructure to secure maximum benefits from
tourism,” she said.
Ms. Awuni appealed to government to create an environment
that would facilitate public-private ventures to the benefit
of the tourism industry.
Mama Mat, an exhibitor selling African beads, urged
government and the Ministry of Tourism to reduce the rent of
the stands to enable more people access the opportunities at
the exhibition.
“The exhibition stand is quite expensive and it makes it
difficult for more people to benefit from tourism,” she
said.
Mr. Michael Mensah, an exhibitor selling artefacts and
crafts, called on government to advertise the country on
networks like CNN and BBC and other online channels to get
more tourists to visit the country.
“We want more tourists to visit Ghana; it is only by
increased tourists’ arrivals that we can make our money.”
Ms. Cynthia Simelane, Marketing Officer of Swaziland Tourism
Authority, said her country expected to meet many tour
operators to arrange tour packages that would facilitate
more visits to Swaziland.
“We realize that some tourists visit Africa and even
Southern Africa but do not visit Swaziland, but Swaziland is
just an hour’s flight from any of the Southern African
countries and we also have a lot to offer,” she added.
Ms. Simelane advised stakeholders in the tourism industry to
ensure that tourists were treated well to guarantee repeated
visits to Africa.
GNA
