Tourism Minister-designate pledges to boost domestic tourism

Minister-designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Awal Mohammed, says he aims to get 1m people travelling within the country every year as part of a domestic tourism campaign.

He said the hotel industry will be integral to the execution and success of the campaign, and he will engage the sector to consider options to lower the cost of accommodation for domestic tourists.

“We have over 50,000 hotel rooms in this country, but we need a minimum of 150,000 rooms, so the cost of hotels is [based on] demand and supply factors. I intend to engage the hotels to give us a cap in terms of pricing so that it can encourage Ghanaians to go around the country,” said Mr. Awal during his vetting by Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Thursday.

He also promised to see to the establishment of a US$20m film studio that will attract local and international film artistes and help develop the film industry.

“It’s one element that can increase the tourism potential of this country. We don’t have any serious studio in this country, so this is one of the first things that we will do. The film studio will help in music and film production and make Ghana the hub of film production in West Africa.”

He also said that local television series will be encouraged to help project Ghanaian culture.