The International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) announced that the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has joined the alliance as a destination member. The Ghana Tourism Authority was established as the main implemeting body of the Ministry of Tourism, replacing the Ghana Tourist Board. GTA’s mission is to ensure sustainable tourism development through the creation of an enabling environment for the provision of quality tourism facilities and services for the traveling public with a well-qualified, highly-motivated, and dedicated work force, thereby promoting tourism to become the leading sector of the economy.

Professor Geoffrey Lipman, President of ICTP, said: “The involvement of the Ghana Tourism Authority confirms the growing strength of the African membership of ICTP and the clear commitment emerging across the continent for the green growth and quality priorities we represent. Ghana is also a rapidly-growing aviation hub, which is vital to Africa’s connectivity progress and its totally interrelated development agenda.”

The Ghana Tourism Authority envisions Ghana becoming the tourism capital of West Africa, especially in culture, heritage, ecotourism, as well as conference tourism in a quality non-mass manner.

Nature is important to Ghana and a conservation program strives to protect this heritage, to enable visitors to enjoy it and to enable Ghanaians to pass it on to future generations. Ghana has a rich natural treasure made up of 16 national parks, resource reserves, and wildlife sanctuaries, which are open throughout the year. From the savannah of the coastal plains, the dense tropical forest, and the grassland of the north, to the life-giving water bodies, which crisscross the country, distinct wildlife abounds in Ghana.

ICTP Chairman Juergen T. Steinmetz said: “Ghana pulsates with life. From the bustle of downtown Accra to the adobe villages of the north, and the ancient Kingdom of Asante, it is a country whose immense cultural diversity both thrills and fascinates visitors, drawing them into a daily rhythm that is uniquely and unmistakenly African. We are sure the energy of Ghana will permeate our membership, and ICTP in turn will be able to bring Ghana’s tourism opportunities to a wider audience.”