Tourism-related Marine resources must be put into good shape - Dr. Eshun

Ghana must commit funds towards developing its tourism-related marine resources to bring them at par with global standards, Dr. Gabriel Eshun, Head of Geography and Tourism, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has said.

It is estimated that out of the 40 transatlantic slave edifices, Ghana could boast of 29 of them and the potential of these could be harnessed through better packaging, branding and marketing, to increase the nation's international tourism arrivals and reap the resultant multiplying positive effect on the economy.

Dr Eshun, who was delivering a paper at a symposium in Kumasi, indicated that those facilities and other unique historical and research centres such as the Lake Bosomtwe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were of significance to global tourism.

Ghana currently ranks sixth in the West African sub-region and 120th in the world, in terms of the global tourism competitiveness, according to the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.

The symposium was organized under the auspices of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) on the theme; "Tourism and Jobs - a Better Future for All".

It brought together traditional authorities, civil society organizations, academia and other stakeholders in the tourism industry to discuss how the nation could maximize its fair share in the global tourism industry.

Dr Eshun said tourism was one of the fastest growing sectors in the world, providing countless job opportunities to the people.

The nation, he said, ought to strive to develop innovative products and programmes along the industry's value chain, which could serve as potential avenues for employment for the citizenry.

"We need more tourism entrepreneurs for wealth creation and economic growth," he noted.

Mr Akwasi Agyemang, Chief Executive Officer of the GTA, said September, this year, had been dubbed 'Tourism Month'.

The occasion was put together to highlight to the world the unique tourism potentials of the nation in the area of cultural, geo and ecotourism.