I am committed to make tourism number one compared to GDP - Awal Mohammed

The minister-designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Awal Mohmammed, has set for himself, a target of moving the sector from the fourth highest earner in the country, to the first, all in four years.

He said that with the advantage of increased domestic tourism and boosting the culture and arts in the country, it should not be an insurmountable thing to achieve in the next four years.

“We think, and when I am given the opportunity, we are convinced and committed to make tourism number compared to GDP. We’ve all along depended on cocoa, gold, and oil. We all know these are extractives we cannot be sure of their uncertainties; we are going to embark aggressively to boost both domestic and international tourism.

“Ghana has the best in terms of tourism sites. Ghanaians are very warm people, we have very rich arts and culture, we have very good heritage sites, we think that when we out our heads together, we can promote internal tourism. We want to have corporate tourism, school tourism, religious tourism and others. You can’t a successful tourism without a good arts and culture background – we need to develop all these three because it’s intertwined.

“We think that over the next four years, tourism, Mr. Chairman, should be number one compared to GDP, from number four. We can gross $5billion over the next two years, averagely and make it number one foreign exchange earner to this country,” he assured.

Awal Mohammed, who is the immediate past Minister for Business Development, is before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, being vetted for his new appointment as Tourism, Arts and Culture minister.