The Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts has put Ghana’s high ranking on the world tourism map down to the efforts of a strong and committed working team and the personal involvement of President John Mahama.

Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu Agyare said government’s special interest in tourism plus the willingness of her colleagues at the Ministry to overlook some challenges and work hard, have contributed to Ghana’s impressive profile among visitors.

Ghana has been listed among 36 destination countries that will be most travelled by tourists in 2016. The list was compiled by a group of 35 well-travelled bloggers from around the world, who specialise in adventure travel, ecotourism, culture travel, and family travel.

Responding to a question over what the country was doing right to attract holidaymakers, the minister said on Thursday March 3 that: “I must be honest and say I will attribute this to a strong team we have. You have a team that is willing to make things work. You have a team that is not complaining, and also the fact that government has decided to make tourism a priority. Government has helped the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Creative Arts a lot. There are instances where you have the president himself intervening in some of the things we are doing to make sure that it happens.”

“And, so, if you have the President himself taking interest in a Ministry or in what we are doing, then it is obvious that the thing will work out very well.”

She continued that Ghana’s trump card for attracting tourists have been its hospitable citizens and the general peace and stability it enjoys.

“We have friendly people. You know, Ghana, we are so marketable that safety and security [are] always the first things on the mind of a traveller. Nobody wants to travel to where there is war. And in Ghana, safety and security are our hallmark and we have really drummed that home very well and when people come here they say it,” Mrs Agyare stated.

“If you come to Ghana they meet friendly people and they enjoy it. Our culture is good, we have interesting tourist attractions,” the minister added, though admitting “there are places that need to be improved, but, for starters, we have what it takes to sell Ghana.”

According to her, destinations such as the Mole National Park, Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, Kakum National Park, and the several forts and castles are the favourites of tourists.

“So, I think that we have what it takes for people to enjoy Ghana. So, when people come, they are happy for our safety and security, all the nice things that we have – our good food, our culture, our clothing, and all of that.”