Wli Visitors Complex to be replicated - Minister

Adaklu-Helekpe, Sept. 21, GNA - The projected Visitors' Reception Complex at the Wli Waterfalls in the Hohoe District, is to be replicated in other eco-tourism sites in the country, Mr Kwasi Owusu-Yeboa, Volta Regional Minister said on Saturday.

In a speech read on his behalf at the World Tourism Day celebration at Adaklu-Helekpe in the Ho District, he said the Kalakpa Resources Reserve in the area is to be upgraded into a National Park.

He identified tourism as an industry, which could create opportunities for skilled and semi skilled jobs and said it must be promoted to reduce poverty.

Mr Owusu-Yeboa said domestic tourism would ensure the redistribution of income, mainly from the rich urban to poor and deprived communities where tourist sites are located.

He called on the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) to encourage the formation of Tourist Clubs in workplaces, communities and schools to promote domestic tourism.

The celebration under the theme, "Tourism: A Driving Force for Poverty Alleviation, Job Creation and Social Harmony," is being marked in the regions at eco-tourism sites as a prelude to the national celebration on World Tourism Day, Saturday, September 27, at Boabeng-Fiema and Kitampo in the Brong-Ahafo Region to be addressed by President John Agyekum Kufuor.

Togbe Gbogbi V, Paramount Chief of the Adaklu Traditional Area, appealed to the government to improve roads and extend potable water and electricity to the area to promote tourism.

He commended Mr Jonathan Ritchter, a Peace Corps Volunteer for his efforts in marketing the tourism potentials of the area.

The celebration, which was held under the "canopy" of the Adaklu Mountain, which is said to have a flat and habitable summit provides a bird's eye-view of nearby towns including Ho, caves, intriguing rock formations, birds and monkeys was marked with a cultural carnival of chiefs and drumming groups.