Tourism ministry picks 30 celebrities as ambassadors

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has unveiled 30 celebrities to lead the promotion of the country’s culture and tourism locally and internationally.

Cutting across various segments, they include musicians, actors, bloggers, writers and disk jockeys whose key responsibility would be to use their influence to promote Ghana as a tourist destination over the next two years.

They are musicians D-Black, Praye, Lucky Mensah, Dada K.D, Kakyire Kwame Appiah, Okyeame Kwame, Reggie and Bollie, Evangelist Diana Asamoah, Fancy Gadam, DSP Kofi Sarpong, Cindy Thompson, Fuse ODG.

Others are screen personalities Bibi Bright, Van Vicker and Sam Okyere, said to be the most popular black entertainer in South Korea and tourism writer and advocate PaaJohn Dadson.

The rest are Daddy Lumba, Stephen Appiah, Sarkodie, Sena Dagadu, Yvonne Nelson, Agya Koo, Abedi Pele, Andy Dosty, Sherifa Gunu and Noella Wiyala.

Twenty others are expected to be unveiled by March next year.

The celebrities were introduced at the Tamale Jubilee Park as part of events marking this year’s World Tourism Day last Wednesday. Some of them had earlier joined a team from the Ministry of Tourism, Ghana Tourism Authority and the Ghana Tourism Development Company on a road show from Accra through Kyebi, Kumasi and Kintampo to Tamale.

Consistent image

 At the event, the sector Minister, Mrs Catherine A. Afeku, said the government was confident that “we can synchronise our efforts to present a coherent, consistent image of Ghana, which is validated by the actual experience of visitors to Ghana.”

“We have carefully selected them for specific markets in Asia, America, Europe, as well as locally to help our campaign to wear, see, eat and feel Ghana,” she said.

The ministry last week launched the See, Eat, Wear and Feel Ghana campaign to develop a renewed sense of nationalism, promoting made-in-Ghana goods and facilitating domestic tourism.

To improve the delivery of service in the tourism sector in Ghana, Mrs Afeku said the ministry was taking concrete steps to address the training needs of the industry with the view of establishing a credible training institution with satellite campuses in the regions.

Northern  potential

Mrs Afeku said the ministry had identified three iconic products in each region and would work with other partners, including the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) “to develop them into first-class tourism attractions that would provide a wider variety of places to go and do things in Ghana.”

“The Northern Region, with its captivating festivals, crafts and natural attractions, is well endowed to become vibrant tourism zones,” she said.

She added that recent private sector investments into game lodges in the Mole National Park and other high-end hotel facilities in the regional capitals indicated an increasing appreciation of the vast potential of the three regions of the north.

The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr Solomon Buah, observed that although the Northern Region had diverse tourism potential, they remained largely untapped.

He drew attention to the Nyakpanduri Scarp which he said was ideal for paragliding.

One of the tourism ambassadors, Mr Sam Okyere, told the Daily Graphic that he would use his position to attract more Korean tourists to Ghana.

“It is a privilege to sell Ghana out there. It is an awesome moment to tell the world, especially Koreans what makes Ghana special and why they should choose Ghana and not any other country,” he said.