"I will make tourism the number one national source of income" - Hawa Yakubu

Madam Hawa Yakubu, Minister of Tourism, said on Wednesday said she has a master plan that could make tourism the number one foreign exchange earner for the country.

The plan, she said, includes the identification of all tourist spots and proper packaging to attract potential tourists.

Madam Yakubu was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) shortly after she was sworn into office by President J.A. Kufuor at the State House.

She was among nine other ministers to be given the seal of office after they had been vetted by Parliament.

Madam Yakubu said she would improve on research into tourism and produce brochures and other publications that can market the industry.

She will also tour the rural areas where there are tourist potentials to be harnessed.

Mr Charles Omar Nyanor Minister of State for Private Sector Development, also told the GNA that the immense experience he gained as minister under the defunct Progress Party makes him competent to promote the private sector.

"My priority is to remove all the bottlenecks and impediments that affect the private sector and fill in all the gaps that will make the sector an engine of growth," he said.