It was passed by an Act of Parliament (Act 817) and assented by the President, John Atta Mills, which empowers the Authority to ensure the management and development of appropriate designs for tourist sites, promote pro-poor tourism, sustainable and responsible tourism and take appropriate measures for safety and security of consumers of Ghana’s tourism products.

In a chat with the Deputy Executive Director, Operations, of the authority, Mr. Kofigah, said that the main difference between the Board and the Authority is that government sub vented the former, which operated as a non-profit organisation.

He explained that as a Board, it could not compete with tourism plant owners such as hotel, travel agencies etc. Now the theory is that the Authority can now develop programmes/ products and hand it over to the private sector.

The Board was more of a Regulatory body, Kofigah noted. As an Authority, the body is no more sub-vented and therefore has to compete, that is to say, they are to “pay themselves”.

Among the stated objectives, the authority is to set up a Tourism Development Fund of which a levy of one percent would be levied on all tourism products which is in the offing, Kofigah indicated.

He indicated that district offices are to be opened to decentralize the authority to make it more relevant. Currently, only regional and the national offices exist.

City.Mobi

Also in Ghana today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Accra.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Accra.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.