By: Audrey Raymonda John
Accra, Ghana Sierra Leone’s Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt, has met with Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mark Okraku-Mantey and called for a strong regional collaboration to leverage the tourism potentials in the sub-region. The meeting was held at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture in Ghana.
Dr. Memunatu Pratt and her team including the Director of Tourism, Mohamed Jalloh, the Chairman of the National Tourist Board Allieu Kokobay, the General Manager of the National Tourist Board, Fatmata Hamid-Carew and senior staff of the Ministry and its agencies are in Ghana to participate at the Inter Tourism Expo, (ITTA 2022).
The Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture in Ghana, Mark Okraku-Mantey welcomed the Minister and her delegation to Ghana saying that he was excited to host them at their Ministry. He explained that their President took tourism very seriously hence he has given them the highest budget ever in the history of Ghana. He said their President goes all around the World inviting people to Ghana which he said has changed the Ghana tourism narrative and that collaboration like this will yield dividend for both countries.
On her part, Sierra Leone’s Tourism Minister, Dr. Memunatu Pratt maintained that Sierra Leone is doing very in terms of its tourism development strategy that views tourism as a vehicle of driving integrated development, hence they have been able to mainstream tourism in many development areas. He mentioned that Sierra Leone’s President is also passionate about tourism and has made tourism as one of the driving forces of diversifying the economy. “What is very important now is to build a very strong regional collaboration to bridge the weak interconnectivity in the sub-region on tourism”, she said. Issues around regional tourism potentials and tapping into shared cultural values were also discussed.
Minister and her team were also hosted at the Ghana Tourism Authority where the Minister shared the Sierra Leone tourism experience. Dr. Pratt was also invited as a special guest of honour at the 19th edition of the Ghana Club 100 Awards Night where she presented awards to the best companies in Ghana.
