In a bid to make the tourism agenda a national initiative, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is set to introduce a line-up of events in the coming months.
This is to bring attention to some overlooked aspects of culture that may be tourism-essential, of which the country can benefit from in terms of Gross Domestic Product.
The revelation was made by the Deputy sector Ministry, Mark Okraku Mantey in an interview on Hitz FM.
Part of the plans includes a funeral, outdooring and marriage tourism initiative as well as an Alumni weekend.
Mr Okraku Mantey explained that if attention is brought to the tenets of funerals and other large ceremonies, there could be some knowledge unearthed.
“Tourism is everything. Whether we like it or not, in Ashanti Region funeral is a big deal. Dr Awal is Muslim but because he understands the business of tourism, he is saying that we bury our people the day after but you [non Muslims], you keep your bodies and there are things you do that attract people to travel to a particular town [for funerals]”.
Beyond such occasions, Mr Okraku Mantey said plans are underway to hold an Alumni weekend for all and sundry, next year.
The intent of the Alunmi weekend, he said, is to assemble people at their alma mater to have impactful dialogues with colleagues as well as rekindle the spirit of togetherness.
Rather than the usual homecoming where old students are aggregated at a single venue, the Deputy Minister noted that it will be every student to his respective school agenda.
“Go and influence the younger ones how you became who you are now and then see some of your old people and kill stress as well; by the time we are done with Alumni weekend you can imagine,” he said.
Artistes will be billed for performances in the selected venues to make the initiative a fun-packed and memorable one.
On how the agenda will boost the Tourism Industry and revenue in general, Mr Okraku Mantey educated that every sector in the tourism chain; from transport, domestics, food, hospitality, logistics, will benefit from intercity travel.
The music producer, also giving a spoiler of how detty December will be, revealed that the sector is targeting about 150,000 persons entering the country and revenue of $5 million.
While making reference to the Year of Return, he added that agents nationwide have been brought on board to help spread the gospel and bring the spotlight on Ghana.
Despite not going into specifics, he assured that the line-up will leave tourists begging for more and yearn to return to Ghana yearly.