Accra March 23, GNA - Fifteen out of the 21 expected pilots for the first ever Hang Paragliding festival in Ghana on Wednesday arrived in the country.

The rest of the seven pilots would arrive on Thursday Night and Friday morning respectively

Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Modernization of the Capital City commended the pilots for accepting to take part in the event when he received them at this office.

He requested that the pilots help Ghana to be established as a venue for paragliding and so that festival is developed and extended to other parts of the country.

The Ministry is introducing paragliding into the aura of Easter celebration of the Kwahus in the Eastern Region of the country as part of the Ministry's tourism promotion programme.

Paragliding is a sport patronised by people interested in flying and make use of light aircraft for the sport.

Holidaymakers who would join the Easter festivities and are keen in flying during the season would be flown from the Kwahu-Atibie Mountains into valleys and back to the top of the summit as part of the fun. Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey said the Hang and Paragliding sporting event, though foreign to Ghanaians would provide an alternative to the traditional sporting events and help train professionals to compete at the international level.

He said the Ministry is desirous in making tourism the primary goal of the of Kwahus and it would therefore promote the Kwahu Ridge to become the honeymoon of West Africa, since it is endowed with the perfect scenes and sights to attract tourists.

The Minister said an insurance cover by the State Insurance Company would be a requisite for all who would want to partake in future events. He urged Ghanaians to join the paragliding festival and expressed the hope that many holidaymakers would show keen interest in the sport. The pilots said paragliding is an exciting non-competitive sport and invited the sporting Ghanaian public to show keen interest in the game.