Ghana to target tourists

Story: Mary Mensah
THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism is undertaking a needs assessment of tourists in selected countries including China, Korea and Australia with a view to effectively targeting that market.
To this end, Ghana missions abroad have been tasked to research into tourism marketing strategies and the preferences and expectations of tourists from these countries on visits to destinations around the world including Ghana.
The Minister, Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, who announced this in Accra yesterday when he took his turn at the meet-the-press series at the Ministry of Information, said these efforts culminated in the conclusion of a number of important agreements with Ghana’s development partners.
He said in the first quarter alone, the ministry, working through the instrumentality of Ghana missions abroad and in collaboration with the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and foreign diplomatic missions in Ghana, succeeded in concluding a number of agreements, including the signing of the $3 billion Master Facility Agreement with the China Development Bank for the development of oil and gas-related infrastructure in Ghana and provision of $250 million for political risk insurance for medical equipment services and infrastructure to benefit up to 100 hospitals throughout the country.
Additionally, he indicated that the Ghana missions abroad coordinated the participation of Ghanaian companies in trade and tourism fairs in their countries of accreditation to promote investments and markets for made-in-Ghana goods.
He said the ministry attached great importance to the policy of good neighbourliness aimed at promoting mutual trust and confidence among the leaders of the sub-region as the basis of addressing common challenges to development across national frontiers which included transnational crimes like money laundering, drug trafficking, child trafficking and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, among others.
He said during the late President’s visit to Togo last year to further strengthen the bilateral relationship that existed between the two countries, negotiations commenced on an agreement for the advancement of the Sogakope-Lome Drinking Water project which was intended to distribute water from Ghana to Togo.
  The minister indicated that economic diplomacy remained a top priority of the government and a crucial aspect of the work of the ministry both at the headquarters and the missions abroad was constantly engaging in activities geared towards the promotion of trade and tourism and attracting foreign direct investment into the various sectors of Ghana’s economy.
He said in doing so the ministry continued to collaborate with the MDAs with a view to achieving the national objective of diversifying and expanding Ghana’s export base and seeking markets for Ghanaian products abroad, adding that the missions abroad in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and other agencies continued to explore avenues to enable Ghana to take full advantage of preferential arrangements and advantages that could accrue from multilateral trade agreements.
He said the ministry had also initiated a long-term Diaspora Policy to involve the large number of professional and economically capable Ghanaians living outside the country in national development activities.
Alhaji Mumuni said a Diasporan Support Unit was also being established at the legal and consular bureau of the ministry in partnership with the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) to compile a comprehensive database of Ghanaians in the Diaspora and to co-ordinate activities of stakeholders in addressing their concerns.
Alhaji Mumuni asserted that the ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior, the Ghana Immigration Service and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, was far advanced in plans to publish a manual on frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) on legal and consular issues.
This, he said, was to enhance the capacity of foreign service officers in handling legal and consular problems facing Ghanaian nationals in a more effective manner and also to promote access to information by the general public. 
 The minister called on Ghanians to ensure that the forthcoming elections were devoid of any violence as Ghana had been the trailblazer for many African countries and the developing world and the next elections should be one of those moments.