The Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture (MoTAC) and its agencies in collaboration with the MasterCard Foundation, held a meeting on Friday 27th January 2023 in Accra at the Alisa Hotel, North Ridge to enable the Foundation to have a better understanding of the Tourism sector, identify gaps as well as assist in addressing the challenges faced by the sector.
Speaking at the meeting, the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Mohammed Awal said the global GDP over the next 10 years is projected to grow at 3 per cent per annum while globally Tourism will grow at 6 per cent per annum.
Dr Awal said the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture had set a target to create one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000) jobs per annum. He also spoke on the need to use ICT to transform the sector and match it appropriately with modern trends.
He emphasized the need to upgrade the skills of personnel in the Tourism, Arts and Cultural sector and upgrade the infrastructure to meet customer satisfaction.
The Minister urged all the representatives of each of the agencies present, to work together, work hard and be ambitious in setting targets and goals
The Country Director of MasterCard Foundation Mrs Rosy Fynn expressed her gratitude to the Minister and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture for the energy and excitement she was greeted with. She added that MasterCard Foundation has a vision of creating 30 million jobs by the year 2030 globally and 3 million jobs in Ghana while anticipating that 60 per cent would go to women.
She added that the Foundation earmarked the Tourism, Arts and Culture sector as a prime area for job creation; especially in the hospitality industry which will be a great avenue for jobs for young women especially.
Mr Rosy Fynn called for close collaboration and a high level of engagement between the ministry, its agencies, and the Foundation to plot a clear path and understand how to act strategically to achieve all the targets set.
The Chief Director, Mr John Yao Agbeko, welcomed participants and made a presentation on the four key areas that the ministry required assistance which included Skills Upgrade, Tourism, Arts and Culture Digitization, Information Management System, and Industry Support.
The various heads of the agencies present made a five-minute presentation on the thematic areas highlighted in the Chief Director’s presentation which concluded the conference.
Present at the meeting were the Honourable Minister and his Deputy, the Directors of the Ministry, and all heads of the thirteen (13) agencies of the ministry.
SOURCE: MOTAC PR
