We are experiencing difficulties – Tourism Minister

The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Catherine Ablema Afeku has bemoaned some challenges facing the ministry.

Speaking at the Ghana Tourism Investment Forum Monday, the Member of Parliament for the Evalue Gwira Constituency disclosed that a major setback to the progress of the Tourism Ministry is the issue of utility tariffs.

She said, “As much as we are making strides, we also need to face reality and understand that there are challenges and the major one that we are grappling and hoping to tie it around so it becomes a win win is the utility challenge. For those of us in the sector working with the stakeholders, we know that that is a major challenge.”

She added that, “With this team and leadership, we will work assiduously to make sure that the energy ministry and stakeholders, energy commission and the people engaged in the hotel and hospitality business will have some kind of a win win; either it is conservation, energy savings or some kind of agreement that we are working on.”

The Minister also entreated stakeholders in the Tourism and Arts industry to figure out ways of promoting Ghana to prospective investors.

“The second one is marketing and promotion of Ghana as a preferred destination. We see that as a challenge. When we get finance and you do a project and no one knows about it, you have already lost about 10% of your investment. Let’s find innovative, cost effective ways of selling Ghana,” she advised.



She added that, “We have tasked GTDC to look for investments around tourist sites. So GTA will support them and other agencies within the ministry will help us bring some kind of sanity to our tourist sites especially investments in sanitation, roads leading to tourist sites.”