Mr. Osei Assibey-Antwi, the Metropolitan Chief Executive of Kumasi, has received the ‘Tourism Personality of the Year’ award, for his instrumentality in the development and growth of the sector.

His support for the sector, according to the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), had helped to whip up knowledge and awareness-creation of the tourism potentials in Ghana’s oldest and second-largest city.

“We present to you this honorary award for your outstanding contribution to tourism promotion for the Year 2019,” a citation presented to the Mayor read.

This was at the GTA’s ‘Ashanti Regional 2019 Tourism Awards’ hosted at the Rattray Park, Kumasi, and Mr. Assibey-Antwi, for his prize, also received a plaque and certificate of excellence.

Nana Yaw Owusu, Mpaboahene, representing the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, presented the prizes to him at the colourful ceremony.

The programme had more than 20 individuals, corporate organizations and key players in the tourism industry receiving awards for their respective contributions to the growth of the sector.

They were awarded with certificates of excellence, citations and plaques.

The MCE in a bid to promote eco-tourism rolled out programmes such as ‘Keep Kumasi Clean and Green’, an initiative which witnessed the growth of more than 72, 000 trees of varied species recently.

The idea is to restore to Kumasi its status as the ‘Garden City of West Africa’, in order to beautify the city, while also presenting it as the tourism-destination for international tourists visiting the country.

The MCE is currently spearheading the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to attract investors for the development of heritage and cultural tourism, which the city is well noted for. The plan is to work with the Manhyia Palace, the seat of the Asante monarchy, to develop to appreciable standards the many museums dotted around the ancient city.

This is part of a grand agenda by the KMA to use tourism as an avenue for job creation to generate wealth for the people.

Already, he had helped to upgrade facilities at the Rattray Park, a state-of-the-art recreational facility, to boost the hosting of tourism-related events in the Metropolis.

Nana Yaw Owusu, who chaired the occasion, lauded him and all the award-winners for their selfless and unflinching support for tourism growth.

He urged them to work harder in their various roles to harness the tourism potentials of the Metropolis.

Mr. Akwasi Agyemang, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GTA, in a message delivered on his behalf, thanked key players in the industry for remaining resolute towards the tourism cause in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He advised them to avail themselves of the stimulus packages government was giving to cushion stakeholders to strengthen them to absorb the shocks of the pandemic.

Mr Assibey-Antwi, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), on the sidelines of the programme, advocated a collected effort from all stakeholders for the development of tourism.