Launch of the International Tourism Investment Forum 2010 (ITIF 2010)

Ghana will be hosting an International Tourism Investment Forum (ITIF) from July 26, to August 1, 2010 at the Accra International Conference Centre. This event is set to coincide with the celebration of the 2010 Emancipation Day in Ghana.

The event which is being organised by the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Tourism and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) is under the theme “The Role of the Investor in the Tourism Sector”. The forum will seek to address the role of the investor in harnessing the investment potential in the tourism sector. Tourism is one of government’s priority sectors for investment and the third largest foreign exchange earner.

Tourism continues to be one of the most important and rapidly growing sectors of the Ghanaian economy. The sector attracts nearly one million tourists annually. The forum will explore;

• The future developments in tourism investment
• Where they will come from
• Where they will go
• What new strategies should be adopted
• New opportunities and challenges
• Domestic tourism promotion
• Development of e-tourism
• How tourism FDI can be used to promote sustainable development 

The forum will bring together over 500 delegates comprising of government officials, policy makers, corporate executives, potential investors from both local and international markets, as well as practitioners to discuss issues concerning tourism and how to position Ghana as the preferred tourist destination.

The event will provide excellent networking opportunities. In addition to the main plenary sessions, specific stakeholder roundtables sessions will be held to discuss public private partnerships. An exhibition will be organised as part of the forum to showcase the potentials in the industry as well as to expose activities that have been undertaken to promote tourism in Ghana.

It is expected that at the end of the event, domestic and international tourism will be given the desired attention by all key players and collaborative efforts be offered to the sector to ensure its full development for a better Ghana. 

Source: GIPC

Click the links below to access some of the speeches read at the event launch

1. Speech by Nana Kofi Adjie Twinin

2. Speech by The Honourable Deputy Minister of Tourism