Accra, Aug. 21, GNA - Mr. Stephen Asamoah- Boateng, Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations on Tuesday emphasized the need for training for people working in the hospitality industry to enable Ghana to attain international standards in the tourism industry. He repeated the clich=E9 that tourism was the fastest growing industry in the world and said there was the need for Ghana to match up its tourism industry to international standards to attract more tourists.

Mr. Asamoah-Boateng made the statement when he paid a working visit to projects being undertaken by the Ghana Tourist Board and the Hotel, Hospitality and Catering Training Institute (HOTCAT) respectively to know at first hand how the projects where going on and also to know the problems faced in facilitating the projects. The Ghana Tourist Board is building new offices at Abdul Nasser Road near the offices of the President's Special Initiative and the Kofi Anan ICT Centre while the HOTCAT is putting up a training centre to train people who are in the hospitality industry and those who want to venture into the industry.

The Ghana Tourist Board is the implementation agency of the Ministry while the HOTCAT is the training facility. Mr. Asamoah-Boateng, accompanied by his deputy Mr Kofi Osei Ameyaw, his Special Assistant, Mr Abeeku Dickson, Chief Director, Mrs. Bridget Katsriku and other directors at the Ministry toured the two facilities and interacted with officials of the two organizations. He also announced that he will meet with hotel managers and owners to discuss the way forward as far as standards in the hotel industry were concerned.

He referred to the forthcoming CAN 2008 and said it was not just for the football but also the tourism industry stood to benefit since the people coming for the event needed hotel accommodation. The Minister called on restaurant operators to try to promote the local dishes and local drinks as a way of selling the Ghanaian cuisine to tourists.