Accra, Sept. 9, GNA - The Ministry of Tourism and Diasporan Relations is in talks with the Ministry of the Interior to find lasting solution to security threats at hotels along the coasts and elsewhere. The Ministry is also advancing plans to provide a prominent and conspicuous hotel and hospitality assistance point at the Kotoka International Airport to serve the needs of visitors. Speaking at a tourism stakeholders' sensitization workshop in Accra to assess performance and discuss the way forward, Mrs Oboshie Sai-Cofie, sector Minister, said the move was to improve tourism related activities.

Touching on Japanese International Cooperation Agency Project, a three-year project aimed at assisting the development of the tourism sector through Public Private Partnership Forum (PPPF), she said the ministry was aware that some tour operators and other industry groups had not been taking part fully in activities of the project. "For us, the industry players, it is extremely essential that we take stringent steps to ensure the sustainability of JICA's PPPF project after their support expires in December this year." She encouraged industry players and their associations to lend their support to the ministry in its efforts to empower their associations and also help provide capital support for them. Making a presentation on the JICA Project and its sustainability, Mr Edward Komla, a Director of MOTDR said ineffective collaboration among private sector trade associations was a constraint to the development of the tourism sector.

He called on the stakeholders to totally commit themselves to the objectives of the JICA project and the PPPF to enable them to enjoy benefits.

Participants were also taken through responsible tourism activities, which were aimed at promoting good linkages between operators and the communities within which they operated.