Lets promote cultural tourism for economic growth

The Ashanti Regional Manager of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr Ekow Sampson, has appealed to chiefs to support aggressive promotion of cultural tourism to grow the economies of their communities.

Ghana, he noted, has enormous tourism potential, given its rich cultural heritage, something that must be fully explored to the advantage of the people.

He said the various festivals, dance performances, indigenous clothes, crafts and culinary, would have to be well-packaged, to meet the required standards to bring in the tourists.

Mr Sampson, addressing participants at a day’s training workshop in Kumasi, said globalization has propelled cultural tourism into one of the fastest-growing markets with many eager to experiment with other peoples’ ways of life.

The programme, organized by the GTA, targeted star-rated hotels and restaurants in the metropolis, to build their capacity for quality service delivery.

The participants were taught to keep acceptable standards by way of good customer care, improved security at tourist facilities and maintenance of good sanitation practices.

Mr Sampson spoke of the determination of the GTA to liaise with the appropriate training institutions to hold regular technical workshops to enhance local skills in craft production.

The goal is to help the craftsmen to adopt the right techniques in their work to add value to their products. The GTA is doing everything including creating websites and marketing brochures to make the tourism industry vibrant.