The Minister-designate for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Dzifa Abla Gomashie, has stated her commitment to enable Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to make investments in their respective regions with regard to the nation’s tourism sector.
An administrative policy, as she suggested, would be established to provide them with skilled personnel who could assist in devising strategies to enhance and capitalise on all facets of tourism within their respective communities.
The nominee indicated that she would collaborate with the Minister of Roads and Highways to reshape deplorable roads leading to the tourist sites to make them more attractive to visitors.
“There is the need to invest and focus more on these tourists sites in order to get the required resources to develop the sector as done in other countries towards generating the needed foreign exchange for the country,” she said.
Ms Gomashie who also expressed concern over the high cost of hotel accommodation in Ghana and the inadequate infrastructure to support the nation’s growing tourism demands assured of meeting major stakeholders to address the issue.
The nominee said it was frustrating to see hotels charging higher rates as compared to their international counterparts, a situation she described as detrimental to the country’s competitiveness as a tourist destination.
Ms Gomashie highlighted the urgent need to improve infrastructure to meet global tourism standards, acknowledging that the lack of adequate facilities impacts the nation’s ability to generate revenue.
She called for collaborative efforts to address the issue, encouraging both local and international private sector stakeholders to invest in the country’s infrastructure.
“Apart from engaging with the Minister of Finance, I think everybody and anyone listening and willing to engage with the private sector within or outside the country is invited to get on-board to ensure that we improve on our infrastructure capacities, you’re welcome to engage me after the vetting,” she said.
The Minister-designate expressed a commitment to involving skilled individuals, particularly from the Centre for National Culture, in order to fulfill the government’s aspirations and vision for advancing the nation’s tourism, arts, and cultural initiatives.
BY LAWRENCE
VOMAFA-AKPALU
