By Bright Ntramah
President Akufo-Addo says the government has invested $10million to rehabilitate a number of Tourism and Heritage centres across the country. These include; the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, the Cape Coast and Elmina Castles and Manhyia Palace Museum.
President Akufo-Addo announced this when he opened the renovated National Museum in Accra.
He tasked the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture to achieve two million international arrivals by 2024, and rake in $4 Billion.
The National Museum which was opened in March 1957 had to be closed down in 2015 for lack of maintenance.
The Museum had deteriorated to an extent that it posed a serious safety risk to visitors, workers and the exhibits.
The Museum has now been restored to its original state with the inclusion of additional exhibits and artifacts.
The inner roads have been asphalted for the first time since the opening of the Museum.
Seven Vehicles used by former Heads of State have been exhibited at the Museum.
The renovated National Museum has the potential to stimulate the development of the creative and cultural industries and is expected to attract more than one hundred and twenty thousand visitors annually as well as create fifteen thousand jobs.
The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mohammed Awal gave the assurance that the facility will be maintained to avoid future shutdown.
President Akufo-Addo noted that Tourism, Arts and culture are effective tools for economic transformation and Ghana will benefit from it having a significant number of heritage resources.
With the Tourism sector currently ranking as the third-largest contributor of the Country’s GDP, President Akufo-Addo said the government will position the sector to contribute more.
In this regard, the government has ”put in place a digitised platform to ensure efficiency and maximise the revenue in the Tourism space”.
He announced that five modern theatres are being built this year and another five, scheduled for next year.
President Akufo-Addo said the government will ”continue to invest in Tourism, Arts and Culture”.
The President was taken around the facility by Acting Executive Director of the Ghana Museum and Monument Authority, Kingsley Ofosu Ntiamoah, accompanied by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey among others.
