SPEECH BY HON STEPHEN ASAMOAH-BOATENG (MP) MINISTER FOR TOURISM AND DIASPORAN RELATIONS AT THE JOINT MEET THE PRESS WITH THE LOC ON GHANA 2008 HELD ON THURSDAY 25TH OCTOBER 2007 AT THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION CONFERENCE ROOM AT 11 AM

My Colleague Minister for Information and Hon Deputy Ministers
Directors
Members of the Media
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with a great sense of pleasure and pride that I warmly welcome you all to today’s all important event.

When I look back at past events this year, my heart is filled with excitement not just at what we have achieved as a Nation but the prospects and opportunities that lie ahead.

This year has been a very momentous one in the history of this Country for the following reasons:

• We celebrated our Golden Jubilee in style and this was amply demonstrated by the tone and feel of the celebrations.

• We successfully hosted some prestigious events this year and notably among them are the African Union Summit for which our President is the Chairman, the CAF Awards and the Joseph Project Launch.
The events attracted a lot of people into our dear country. High ranking people such as politicians, businessmen and women, investors and tourists etc. all flocked into Ghana either to express solidarity, explore business opportunities or just sample our hospitality. This did not only boost faith in our beloved Nation; but have also put us on the competitive map of Countries worth doing business with.

Ladies and Gentlemen, over the years, various attempts have been made at branding and promoting Ghana for business or as a viable tourism destination. Our efforts have not yielded the desired results and impact. Whatever the case may be, and however we look at past attempts, we in the tourism sector believe now is the time to take our efforts to the next level by riding on the back of Ghana 2008 to make a significant impact by not only opening Ghana wider to the world but also make the Industry a significant contributor to our Gross Domestic Product.

Currently, tourism is considered the 4th largest contributor of foreign exchange to the economy. In 2005, total arrivals of 429,000 tourists provided US$836 million in receipts to Ghana’s economy. This increased to 497,000 arrivals with a corresponding receipt of US$981,000, recording 16% and 18% increase respectively over the 2005 figures.

In the same vein domestic tourism also recorded increased in selected sites. The sires are 14 small community based eco-tourism sites located in almost all the regions. These exclude the Forts and Castles and Kakum National Park which are more popular amongst tourists. Together, these 14 sites received about 34,000 and 39,000 visitors in 2005 and 2006 respectively with the communities benefiting from the tourist spend of ¢802, million or GH¢80,200 in 2005 and ¢1.1billion or GH¢110,000 in 2006. This also accounts for 18% increase in arrivals and 38% in receipts.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is interesting to note that Ghana is ripping these successes without much effort. Ghana, does very little to promote and market our tourism potentials, unlike what some great tourism African countries, such as South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Egypt etc do spending millions of dollars to promote their tourism potentials, and by so doing reap the corresponding benefits.

In such countries, though the Government has created the enabling environment for tourism to flourish, the citizens of those countries have embraced and claimed total ownership of tourism efforts and have equally contributed to their current levels of development.

In promoting our country, Ghana, I would therefore like to entreat each and every individual Ghanaian to play his/her part.

This, Ladies and Gentlemen, now takes me to the high point of today’s event.
The Ministry, realizing the immense potential Football presents for Brand promotion is working in collaboration with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the Private Sector to launch a special Integral Local and International Tourism Promotion Campaign that will:

• Create a desirable image for Ghana.
• Position Ghana in the minds of tourists and fun seeking people as a  viable destination
• Generate excitement and traffic for the football fiesta next year.

This Campaign, which will be launched in the next couple of weeks will be executed in a 2 pronged and phased manner;

• Supporting the Warmth of Ghana as a country using her people as the key driver.
• And galvanizing support for a victorious Black Stars.
The implementation will be done through partnership with Internal and External Partners, private, public and civil society in a holistic manner.

The roll out plan for Ghana 2008 will be as follows:
• Mass sensitization of identified Publics in the Hospitality industry, i.e. hotels, restaurants, chop bars, car rentals, taxi drivers etc on the new direction and what is required of them to keep clean environment and maintain high standards in their businesses. This has already begun with especial focus on the hospitality practitioners in the four host cities, namely, Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Sekondi.
• Rally round the flag road shows to whip up excitement about being a Ghanaian and special clean up exercises to prepare the grounds to host such a prestigious event. This will involve all individuals or groups.
• A 90 day count down will be observed daily in hotels, restaurants, night clubs, chop bars, drinking spots, in the Media, by Metropolitan/Municipal and District Assemblies, Schools, at our Missions abroad etc. This will be launched on 31st October 2007 in Kumasi.
• Production and placement of special Ghana 2008 campaign materials locally and in the International Media, in flight advertising on all Accra in and out bound flights, domestic flights etc. is expected to begin on 1st November, 2007.
• Creation of special Ghanaian Villages at the key tournament centres that will offer everything Ghanaian; food, music, artifacts etc. and will be ongoing.
• Big carnivals in the evenings at the tournament centres for winding down and social interaction. We are exploring the possibility of making these events cross cultural.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is our expectation that these programmes will as I said at the beginning usher us into a new era of Tourism promotion for GHANA 2008 and beyond.

We intend sustaining the interest generated through the series of planned activities periodically and we believe we can count on your support in our drive to make GHANA 2008 a successful venture.

Thank you.

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