World Tourism Day 2023 to be held in Ada
By Selorm GBORBIDZI, Accra
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MoTAC) has announced that this year’s World Tourism Day event will be held in Ada in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
This was made known during the launch of the Tourism Month 2023, which will cover the whole of September, and will be characterized by a host of tourism events.
This launch of the Tourism Month is meant to encourage Ghanaians to see more of their country and boost the share of local tourism to GDP.
The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mark Okraku Mantey, who launched the celebration, urged Ghanaians, especially those who have been confined to the metropoles and cities their whole lives to “step out.”
He urged them to “take picture, share the pictures, share Ghana and experience Ghana. Ultimately, ease the stress.”
He toted the therapeutic effect of travelling to new environments on the human mind, noting that “it is healthy to actually move around.”
Okraku Mantey stated that travelling and going on excursions is no longer a mere activity, but a business, as by travelling, people contribute to the economy.
Tourism is a big business, and it is a step in the right direction to travel this September to some other place because you are actually contributing to Ghana’s GDP,” the Deputy Minister said.
The tourism month will involve festivals in all corners of the country, a paragliding event at Kwahu, there’ll also be the 88th edition of the Ghana Open golf tournament, a pan-African cycling event dubbed the ‘King of the Mountain’ race.
There’ll also be conversations about how to improve the creative industry, particularly the music industry.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer in Charge of Operations at the Ghana tourism Authority, Ekow Sampson, noted that the Tourism Month is geared towards encouraging the patronage of prominent festivals, events, tourist sites and attractions in the country.
It’s also meant to help stakeholders examine the critical role domestic tourism plays in growing and sustainable economy.
He touted the importance of festivals to sociocultural cohesion by “adding structure to our social lives and connecting us to our backgrounds.”
He also pointed out that they provide a welcome distraction from the hurly-burly business of routine living and “inspire us to remember the important things and moments in life.”
They also serve an economic role by drawing business from patrons and tourists who travel to local communities to partake of these festivities.
In view of these benefits, he made the point that the Ministry is working to give facelifts to the various tourist sites dotted around the country under the Ghana Tourism Development Project (GTDF) with the aegis of the World Bank, with expected positive effects on tourism arrivals into the country.
