Special Honey discovered at Kakum National Park

Accra, March 30, GNA - Mrs. Juliana Azumah-Mensah, Minister of Tourism, on Monday announced the discovery of a special medicinal honey at Kakum National Park and said this would add another activity for tourists who visited the park.

The honey which was extracted from a kind of bees which did not sting, was said to be used to cure several ailments, she said. The Minister said the University of Cape Coast had an on-going project to make the production of the special honey commercial and accessible to everybody, especially tourists who visited the site. Mrs. Azumah Mensah made this known when Mr Donald Teitelbaum, United States Ambassador to Ghana, called to congratulate her on her appointment and also share ideas on areas where the two countries could collaborate to improve the tourism industry.

Emphasizing the need to add values to tourist sites in Ghana, the Tourism Minister said most tourists went to Kakum just to walk on the canopy walk-way. He added that, the discovery of the special honey would add another activity to attract tourists who visited the place. "Tourists can have an experience on draining honey from bees at the Kakum Park when the project starts fully," she said.

Mrs Azumah-Mensah officially informed the Ambassador about the coming World Tourism Day celebration which Ghana was hosting. "On September 27, the whole world would descend on Ghana to celebrate Tourism Day with us," she said and explained that the United Nations had designated September 27 every year as Tourism Day. The Minister called on the United States government to help the Ministry in skills development and training of personnel in the tourism industry.

Mrs Azumah-Mensah presented a book on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade to the Ambassador and urged him to help Ghana access the United States market.

Mr Teitelbaum said the slave trade and its legacy were part of the history shared by the U.S. and Ghana, adding that, there was the need for both countries to learn from the experiences of the slave trade. Mrs Bridgette Katsriku, Chief Director of the Ministry, said they wanted to organize a tour for diplomats in Ghana to enable them to know the various tourist sites since some of them complained that they were not able to see Ghana before they completed their tour of duty.