The EKGS Culinary Institute has held its 18th graduation ceremony at the
national Theatre in Accra.

The programme coincided with a spectacular cake, pastry and floral
exhibition mounted by 120 grandaunts who have undergone six months intensive
courses in cake making and designing, pastries making, cookery, balloon and
floral arrangement.

It was under theme 50 years of independent the way forward for the strategic
development of the hospitality industry.

Some of the items displayed included wedding cakes, birthday cakes and fancy
cakes in which some of them were designed with pictures of important
personalities while others were made in a form of football pitches,
corporate logos and baby courts.

There was a mad rush for wedding cakes and pastry products after the
programme as aspiring couples were busily bargaining for wedding cakes and
other gift items meant for their planed wedding.

The event which was described by some patrons as unprecedented brought
hundreds of people from various part of the country which filled the theater
to capacity.

Bernice Ofei, one of the country's finest female gospel artistes sang some
of her latest sons which saw guests dancing throughout.

In her welcome address the Founder and Director of the Institute
Mrs.EfuaGoode-Arthur appealed to Government to waive taxis on tourism
equipments and
other tools to encourage more people to take advantage of the industry.

She noted ,, if we want to attract patrons to our facilities we must be
prepared to learn new things , keep our facilities spick and span and go to
the extra miles of being extra special,,

She said this will help them to explore available opportunities in the
industry.

She once again admonished the aviation industry to reduce the air fares to
attract more tourists into the country.

She said some of the challenges impeding the industry are high air fares
charged by the airline operators in Ghana.

Mrs. Arthur said the growth of the tourism sector has gained an
international recognition for the country which according to her will bring
more tourists to the country.

She however said that it is imperative for players in the industry to embark
on capacity building and long term strategies to enable them to meet the
global tourism demands

EKGS Culinary Institute located at Dansoman round about was established
eight years ago with six students can now boast of remarkable growth.

The school since its inception has trained thousands people who are now
working with leading hospitality companies in Ghana.

The chairman of the function Mr. Ransford Tetteh who doubles as President of
the Ghana Journalists Association and Editor of the Daily Graphic, the
biggest selling news paper in Ghana congratulated the graduands and urged
them not to be complacent but keep on upgrading their skills in other to
enable them excel on the job market.