GTA holds industry fun games to mark 50th anniversary

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) on Saturday held industry fun games as part of activities to mark its 50^th anniversary.

The event was also meant to foster a stronger sense of partnership, collaboration and healthy rivalry among sister agencies and private sector operators.

The games held at the Ridge Church School Astro turf in Accra, brought together several agencies under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the private sector operators for a fun filled day.

The participating teams were selected from Ghana Tourism Development Company, Ghana Museum and Monument Board, Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre, National Theatre of Ghana, Creative Arts Agency, Folklore Board and Bureau of Ghana Languages.

The rest were the National Commission on Culture (NCC), Hotel, Catering and Hospitality Training Institute, National Film Authority, Pan African Writers Association of Ghana Tourism Federation, Tour Operators Union of Ghana (TOUGHA), Car Rentals Association of Ghana, Ghana Hotels Association and Ghana Progressive Hotels Association.

Disciplines competed in included soccer, table tennis, tug of war, lime and spoon, sack race, scrabble and 50-meter dash race.

The rest were ludu, playing cards, bottle flip, eating competition, ampe, musical chairs, oware, draft and playing cards.

The well attended event was however, ruined by the rains as organisers decided to postpone it to Wednesday, September 27, at Ada to commemorate the 2023 World Tourism Day.

Only two disciplines – lime and spoon and sack race were completed. Soccer, tag of war, 50metre dash, draft, musical chairs and table tennis will take off from semi-finals on September 27, according to the organisers.

Speaking at the event, the Board Chairman of GTA, Mr Seth Adjei Baah said going forward, Ghanaians should view tourism as the catalyst to improve the economy of the country.

He said his outfit had begun renovating a number of tourist sites in the country to create the environment that would attract people to visit to have fun and by so doing fixing the economy.

“We know we have challenges but tourism brings the wealth through which we can solve most of the challenges,” he said.

“We want tourism to be the number one income earner. Currently, I think tourism is number three and we believe that we shall get there,” Mr Baah added.

He further urged Ghanaians to portray the nation positively to lure many tourists into the country to have fun to generate revenue for the country.

“I’m very impressed about the number of people who trooped in here to give us support. It has been so wonderful and I am so grateful to all the various institutions,” he said.