Koforidua, March 1, GNA - Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo has called on the Ghana Tourist Board to engage desk officers at the various district assemblies to serve as technical advisers to enhance the development of tourist sites in the districts. He explained that such officers, among other things, could help identify potential sites in the districts that could be developed into tourist sites, document them and liaise with schools in the districts to encourage domestic tourism.

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said the tourism industry had the potential of turni= ng the economy around by creating jobs and attracting foreign exchange from tourist. Areas with potential must, therefore, be well developed and packaged=

for attraction, noting that the region abounds in many tourist destinatio= ns but lacked development. He was addressing members of the Ghana Tourist Board who called on h= im at Koforidua to begin a visit of tourist sites in the region. He mentioned the Boti, Akaa, Asenema and Adasewase water falls, amon= g others, as major attractive falls that needed receptive facilities to attract more visitors.

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo cited the popular Boti-falls, which he said had poor=

facilities and for a long time had relied on a generator for light. He indicated that the region was positioning itself to be the best destination for tourism and was therefore incorporating the beads industr= y into tourism development to create jobs. The Regional Minister said the beads market was being relocated to th= e Centre for National Culture (CNC) to boost tourism. Mr Edem Kpodo, who led the team, said the board had resolved to buil= d receptive facilities at all the tourist sites, especially the water falls= to attract visitors.

However, he indicated that, they were looking at strategies where the=

communities themselves would take charge to maintain the facilities at th= e sites as a source of employment. According to Mr Kpodo, the team had toured tourist destinations in t= he Central Region and the Eastern was the second region.