Accra, March 10, GNA - Mr. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, has called for more sponsorship of the tourism industry to ensure that tourism programmes and activities are smoothly and efficiently organized.

He pointed out that the sector Ministry alone could not shoulder tourism financing in Ghana and thanked those who have been supporting the industry.

Mr. Asamoah-Boateng made the appeal at the weekend when Global Media Alliance and Dateline Marketing in collaboration with the Ghana Tourist Board organized a cocktail to show appreciation to organizations that have supported the National Tourism Award over the years and to welcome on board new sponsors.

The Minister announced that, the Eighth National Tourism Awards would soon be held to reward and encourage professional excellence in the tourism industry.

"It is our way of showing gratitude to those who have done so much for tourism in Ghana. It is an affirmation and acknowledgement or show of appreciation and gratitude to our partners and stakeholders."

Mr. Asamoah-Boateng noted that, the growth of tourism in Ghana had been phenomenal with about 98 per cent increase in the number of hotels and hotel rooms from 1997 to 2006. "Occupancy ranges from 70 to 80 per cent in the 2-5 star hotels category," he said.

He said all the achievements in the tourism sector did not happen in a vacuum but were due to immeasurable support of our sponsors. Mr Martin Mireku, Acting Executive Director at the Ghana Tourist Board, said the Eighth National Tourism Awards programme had been re-packaged to give it a new outlook.

He said three zonal awards - the Savannah zone, comprising Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, the Middle zone, comprising the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Eastern regions and the Coastal zone comprising, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western regions - would be held to precede the national one.

Mr Mireku said award ceremonies were expected to provide a benchmark for best practices as well as promoting Ghana's image as a top class tourism destination in Africa.

He announced that the proposed date for the National Awards would be on August 2 at the Accra International Conference Centre.

Explaining further, the GTB boss said a seven-member jury would be constituted for the awards at both zonal and national level. "In addition, the public will be invited to text through an arranged SMS system their preferred nominee."

Mr Mireku said the awards event was one of the most important activities on the National Tourism Calendar and therefore the sector placed high premium on it.