The Ministries of Tourism and Education are working on a curriculum to introduce tourism as a subject in schools.

Nana Akomeah, Deputy Minister of Tourism, who made this known in Kumasi, said the ministry would soon come out with a document on domestic tourism.

He was speaking at the launching of an essay competition on domestic tourism for final year junior secondary school (JSS) students throughout the country.

Nana Akomea said the domestic tourism document, which is now in draft form, would be presented to Cabinet and Parliament.

The Deputy Minister said there was the need to package ourselves properly. "We need to be aware of ourselves first and foremost as a people before tourists will take us seriously. There is no need for us to launch a market drive for tourists only for them to come down and get disillusioned."

Nana Kwame Asante-Frimpong, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Tourism and Trade, said tourism without culture was meaningless and suggested that the Commission on Culture be made part of the Ministry of Tourism with two Deputy Ministers, one in charge of tourism and the other culture.

The essay competition is being sponsored by British Airways in collaboration with Gemini Life Insurance Company (GLICO), Golden Tulip Hotel and Coconut Groove Beach Resort.

The competition, the brainchild of the Tour Operators Union of Ghana (TOUGHA), is designed to create public awareness on domestic tourism and aimed specifically at helping school children to expand their educational experiences beyond the classroom.

The occasion was also used to inaugurate the Ashanti regional executive of TOUGHA and launch the tourism map of Ashanti with emphasis on Kumasi, which was prepared by Wood Consultancy, a mapping and geo-information production company.

Mr Maxwell Jumah, Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), said he has given the Waste Management Department of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) six months to get the city clean as part of tourism drive