Ghana and the United State of America have agreed to collaborate to promote tourism, arts and culture between the two countries.

This was the outcome of a meeting held in Accra last Friday, 23rd September 2022, between the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal and the US Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia E. Palmer.

As part of the collaboration, the two countries would hold joint tourism fora in Ghana and US to help promote tourism potential in Ghana.

Dr Awal said the US was an essential market for Ghana in tourism and, therefore, urged the Ambassador to use her good office to help market Ghana as a potential tourism and investment destination.

He added that the launch of 'Beyond the Return' by President Akufo-Addo in 2019 has made Ghana the centre of attraction for African diasporans, therefore, Ghana was taking measures not only to attract tourists but to repeat tourist arrivals.

"We are revamping some tourist attraction sites such as the national museum after extensive renovation, renovating Nkrumah Memorial Park, renovation of both Cape Coast and Elmina Castle and the training of stakeholders in the tourism value chain to improve their customer care orientation,” Dr Awal added.

For her part, US Ambassador Virginia E. Palmer was happy with the development and said Ghana was a very peaceful country which could be the hub of tourism in the West African sub-region.

She expressed her country’s willingness to partner with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture to promote the sector as a way of creating jobs and wealth for the people.

At the end of the meeting, the Minister and the Ambassador agreed to meet again in October to work on the details of the collaboration.