Tourism Ministry seeks media help

Accra, Aug 14, GNA - Mrs. Juliana Azumah Mensah, Minister of Tourism, on Friday urged the media and the public to support the Ministry to ensure a successful hosting of the World Tourism in the country from September 21st to 27th September this year. Ghana was elected to host the celebration that would be on the them: "Tourism, Celebrating Diversity", on behalf of Africa. It is part of the 7th Session of the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Mrs Mensah told Editors of print and electronic media at the launch of the event in Accra that tourism has become a vital tool for pro-poor development which could create more jobs and generate wealth. She said a successfully celebration would boost Ghana's international image and give it a worldwide publicity. Mrs Mensah said it would also attract investment to the tourism sector and improve the country's balance of payment and Gross Domestic Product.

She stressed that to maximize benefits of the celebration, Ghana needed to partner with the media to inform Ghanaians about the event. Mrs Mensah said the programme for the celebration included communication workshops.

The Editors appealed to the Government to give sufficient budgetary allocation to the Ministry to enable it invest in tourism and to involve the private sector in the development of the industry through creative and attractive ventures.

They also said there was the need for the government through communities to take measures to protect the beaches and approach the development of the tourism industry holistically. 14 Aug. 09