Government to establish tourism television - Afeku

Madam Catherine Ablema Afeku, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, says the Ministry has secured a licence from the National Communication Authority to establish a tourism television to promote the Ghanaian culture, arts and tourism destinations in the country.

She said feasibility studies had been conducted and the documents forwarded to a consultant to help secure an office accommodation for the television, while feverish preparation was underway to launch it.

Madam Afeku made the disclosure when she took her turn at the Meet-the-Press Series in Accra, on Monday.

The event provides a platform for the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to respond to critiques, criticisms and provide further explanation on implementation of government programmes and policies as well as receive feedback from the public.

The Minister gave a rundown of the various activities the Ministry undertook in the past 11 months since she assumed office.

Some activities undertaken by the Ministry during the year under review are; the celebration of the National Chocolate Day, participation in the World Tourism Forum in Turkey, renovation and re-opening of the Kintampo Waterfall after the deadly storm disaster, signing of Memorandum of Understanding with stakeholders at Kintampo to streamline revenue collection at the waterfall, outdooring of Tourism Ambassadors, Excellence Breakfast Forum and other initiatives to rake-in more revenue for the government.

Madam Afeku, also a Member of Parliament for the Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira Constituency in the Western Region, stated that government would also establish Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Museum, at Akuapim-Mampong in the Eastern Region.

She said the initiative was in line with the vision of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to promote local consumption of cocoa across the country.

The Minister said the move was to honour Tetteh Quarshie for the historic role he played in bringing cocoa to the country.

Tetteh Quarshie was said to have undertaken a voyage to the Spanish colony, Fernando Po (now Bioko in Equatorial Guinea), and brought cocoa to the then Gold Coast on his return.

The Ministry, she said, would collaborate with the Ghana Tourism Federation and the Cocoa Processing Company to ensure that hotels across the country provide chocolates to guests as one of the ways of promoting the consumption of cocoa.