The Minister of Tourism, Hon. Hawa Yakubu has called for the appointment of Desk Officers in selected Embassies of Ghana to man Tourism desks as a way of promoting the industry abroad.
She made the call during discussions with the US Ambassador to Ghana, Ms Kathryn Dee Robinson, who led a USAID team to call on the Minister in her office.
Hon. Hawa Yakubu mentioned New York, Washington, London, Bonn and Amsterdam as some of the capitals where these Tourism Desk Officers can be appointed to identify tour operators in those countries, promote Ghana as a tourist attraction, assist tourists with information and facilitate their trips to Ghana.
She stressed the need for a tourist map of Ghana and the streamlining of visa procedures as part of the tourism promotion package. To this end, she said, she intends to strengthen the Research Unit of the Ministry and develop a one-stop website categorising the diverse areas of tourism in Ghana to facilitate both local and international tourism.
Hon. Yakubu outlined her vision, which is to reach out to rural and remote parts of the country to identify and develop eco-tourism. She mentioned the Wa Palace, Damongo Game Reserve and the village on Stilts in the Western Region as some of the sites to be showcased as tourist attractions. She called for airstrips in certain parts of the country to ease travel problems for tourists.
The minister, however, bemoaned the budget for the ministry, which she said, is woefully inadequate for the challenges of the industry.
Hon. Yakubu stressed the need for a peaceful and congenial atmosphere as part of the promotion of tourism. To this end, she appealed to the US Ambassador to use her good offices to assist the government deal with the problems of serial killings of women in Accra.
Ms Robinson congratulated the minister on her appointment and expressed the preparedness of the US government to assist Ghana in the various sectors of tourism, which she said, has enormous potential in Ghana.
She emphasised the need for a visa regime consistent with the tourism policy of Ghana.
The US Ambassador emphasised the need for more information on tourism in Ghana abroad in view of the difficulties encountered by potential tourists to Ghana. She praised the rich culture of Ghana which she said, needs to be exploited to the full as part of the tourism package.
Ms. Robinson called for private-public sector co-operation to boost the tourism industry, saying that between the two sectors, the necessary enabling environment can be created for the industry.
She said that as part of US-Ghana co-operation to enhance tourism, information on Ghana is to be posted on the US government website. The two countries are also co-operating in area of civil aviation to make Ghana a tourist destination.
On the problem of serial killings, which the Ambassador described as "very, very troubling," Ms Robinson pledged the assistance of US law-enforcement agencies to provide technical support to deal with it.
Mr. Frank Young, head of USAID in Ghana, said that USAID has invested $9.5 million in tourism in the past four years and was committed to spending some more on the sector.
He said that plans are afoot to develop sites for tourism in Ghana, as well as rehabilitate existing ones. He described Ghana as a country with tremendous tourism potential.
Mr. Young stressed the need for private-public sector involvement to ensure the needed investment in tourism, which, he said, is set to be a big time foreign exchange earner for Ghana.
