The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture has stated his readiness to work closely with the Tour Operators Union of Ghana (TOUGHA) to drive and promote the domestic tourism agenda of the country.
Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal gave the assurance when leadership and some members of TOUGHA paid a courtesy call on him today, March 25th, 2021 to welcome him to his new office as the sector’s Minister. The visit was also to allow for TOUGHA to formally introduce themselves to the Minister as a key stakeholder of the country’s tourism sector.
Dr. Awal said that the Ministry will frequently engage stakeholders, especially the private sector to deliberate on ways to strengthen Ghana’s tourism as they seek to promote domestic tourism and make the country, West Africa’s tourism hub.
“We will have quarterly meetings with the private sector and stakeholders including the Tour Operators for us to dialogue. We want to make Ghana the tourism hub in West Africa. We are very stable, we have good governance and beautiful attractions that can help us to achieve that. And to make Ghana the tourism hub, we need TOUGHA because you tell people what it is that the country has.
“As a government, we will give you the framework within which you can work to drive domestic tourism so that we can increase the numbers. We want to have at least a million local tourists each year to complement the international arrivals,” the Minister said.
On her part, President of TOUGHA, Mrs. Alisa Osei Asamoah who led the delegation expressed hope that they would have fruitful partnership with the Minister and the Ministry as they work to grow Ghana’s tourism. Thanking the Minister for granting them audience, Mrs. Osei Asamoah also assured him of their full support in his new portfolio and wished him well.
“We are happy you are here and it is refreshing to hear your willingness to work with us. We are convinced that you will live up to what you’ve assured us of and we are also ready to work with you to move our tourism forward,” she said.
The TOUGHA delegation compromised, Mrs. Alisa Osei Asamoah – President, Nana Okatakyie Anim- Chairman of the 5-year strategic planning and Mrs. Abe Blay Asmah- Chairperson of Domestic Tourism Promotion. The rest are Mrs. Yvonne Donkor- General Secretary, Mr. Kweku Passah- member, domestic tourism promotion, Ms. Sylvia Anim and Mr. Emmanuel Boateng both of fundraising and events of TOUGHA.
