Ghana to host World Tourism Day

GHANA has been nominated by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) to host this year’s International World Tourism Day in September, 2009.
As part of preparations towards the occasion, which seeks to firmly secure Ghana’s position on the world tourism map as a major tourism destination in Africa, an interim committee set up by the Ministry of Tourism has prepared a comprehensive report aimed at spreading the celebration of the event nationwide, on the theme, “Tourism: Celebrating Diversification”.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Tourism, Mrs Bridget Katsriku, who made this known in an interview with the Daily Graphic, said the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with stakeholders in the industry would among others things organise tours, exhibitions and a grand durbar of chiefs and the general public to climax the occasion in Kumasi.
She said to ensure that the event was well strategised by the ministry and stakeholders, the UNWTO Secretary General, Mr Francessco Fragialli, was in the country yesterday to discuss the challenges, and how prepared Ghana was to host the event.
According to her, the Secretary General, who met the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, was on a West Africa tour and had been to Cote d’Ivoire, Benin and Senegal.
“He was in the country to take stock of Ghana’s relationship with the UNWTO and to also discuss the new initiative, Sustainable Tourism for the Elimination of Poverty (STEP) programme introduced by the organisation in Ghana,” she stated.
The programme, she disclosed, was introduced in 2003 by the UNWTO after the world summit on sustainable development held in South Africa in 2001.
Mrs Katsriku explained that the programme was geared towards using tourism as a tool to alleviate poverty in developing countries, particularly in Africa.
“In Ghana, the STEP programme had started in the Western and Northern regions where communities are participating in Tourism development through capacity building of members of the community,” she added.
She pointed out that through the programme wealth would be created in the selected communities through the establishment of linkages between entrepreneurs in communities and stakeholders in the tourism industry.
The Chief Director further explained that fishermen or fishmongers for instance would be assisted to supply fresh fish to hotels and restaurants without intermediaries, thereby encouraging them to work harder.