Tourism Ministry organises Ambassadorial tour

Ms Akua Sena Dansua, Minister of Tourism on Saturday led a delegation of Ambassadors and High Commissioners to tour the Shai Hills Resource Reserve and the Akosombo Hydro Dam in the Eastern Region.

This was part of activities to celebrate World Tourism Day and to expose the heads of Missions in Ghana to the country’s tourism potentials as part of efforts to promote tourism and hospitality industry to the international community.

The 2012 tourism day celebration was on the theme: “Tourism and Sustainable Energy: Powering Sustainable Development”.

Ms Dansua noted that Ghana had a lot of tourism potentials and that the Ministry of Tourism was looking for an opportunity to partner with the private sector to develop tourism sites to generate more revenue.

She said GUMA Group of South Africa had expressed interest in the development of the Shai Hills resource reserve, adding “I hope they will come next year and start the project.”

Ms Dansua urged the Ambassadors and High Commissioners to promote Ghana’s tourism industry by inviting investors from their various countries to invest.

Shai Hill Resource Reserve, a 51 kilometre square, was established 1971. It currently has baboons, ostriches, monkeys and antelopes.

The Park Manager, Mr Moses Anongura said the reserve records an average of 1,300 visitors monthly. It is currently faced with logistical challenges, which affects the day-to-day running of the reserve.

Mr Anongura said projects onboard currently included an Eco-Lodge project at the cost of $2.5 million; a place for the animals to feed costing $75000 and a fence wall to protect the reserve from cattle herdsmen at $1.5 million.

Mr Fred Bart Blange, General Manager of the Volta Hotel in Akosombo, said the Volta River Authority (VRA), was looking to partner with the Ministry of Tourism in many developmental areas in Akosombo.

He said the theme for this year’s celebration was necessary for the VRA to partner with the Ministry to celebrate the Day, adding “The hospitality industry cannot improve without electricity”.

Mr Blange said the VRA was ready to partner with any investor in the Akosombo area to develop the tourism potentials.

Trudy Kernighan, Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, on behalf of the Western Diplomats shared their experiences of the tour and promised to help market the country’s tourism potentials.

Mr Ademola O. Onafowokan, Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana said investors in Nigeria were ready to invest in the sector.