Mankessim (C/R), Oct. 25, GNA - The government has initiated a five-year strategic plan to increase earnings from tourism from 500 million dollars to 1.5 billion dollars annually, Mr Owusu Nkansah Central Regional Manager of Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) has announced. The plan would also increase jobs from 115,000 to 300,000 within the period making tourism the highest employer after retailing and farming, he said.

Mr Nkansah made the announcement at a seminar on the creation of land banks for tourism investment, which was sponsored by Agenda for Growth of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at Mankessim in the Central Region.

Mr Nkansah said the plan would create the environment for Ghana to become home for many Africans in the Diaspora.

He said the GTB had created 21 tourist sites, which were being provided with visitors' receptive facilities such as water, toilets, canteens and recreational facilities, among others.

Mr Nkansah said proceeds generated from the sites would be shared according to the ration of 20 percent for the traditional authorities, 20 percent for the community, 10 percent to the government and 50 per cent would be kept towards the maintenance of the facilities.

Mr Humphrey Kumah, Acting Director, Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations said the Ministry was prompted to create land banks for its investment programmes because of the frustrations it went through in land acquisition.

He said the Ministry would ensure that the land was well documented to avoid it being dragged into lit igations and commended Agenda for Growth for supporting the project.

Dr Thomas Fokuo Agyapong, Director, Modernization of the Capital City, said land was valuable property and that negotiations for their lease should benefit future generations.

Mr Robert Quainoo-Arthur, Mfantseman District Chief Executive (DCE), cautioned landowners against indiscriminate outright selling of lands.

He suggested that lands should be given on lease instead of outright sale so that they could reclaim them when the need arose. The DCE exhorted chiefs and landowners whose lands fell into the plans for the land bank to be sincere with the negotiations they would enter into with the Tourist Board.

Mr Frank McAvor, Project Manager, Agenda for Growth said his organization was involved in the exercise because of the benefits the nation would derive in it.