The minister-designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Awal Mohammed, has said that under his tenure, he will ensure that a minimum of one million local tourists visit the many tourist sites dotted across the country.

He said that with several local indigenes uninterested in local tourism due to the high costs of travelling and accommodation, he will work together with all the groups involved to ensure that they give discounts to local tourists to encourage more and more people to travel around the country.

He made this known in a response to a question during his vetting at the Appointments Committee of Parliament.

“Domestic tourism is very important for Ghana. Mr. Chairman, when given the nod, we intend to package internal tourism to attract a minimum of 1 million visitations, in terms of local tourism. What we need to do is to make a package with the hotel owners, transporters, airline operators and food vendors.

“We also want to ensure that school children, we catch them young, to be encouraged to travel around the country. That we hope will create many jobs for our people,” he said.

Awal Mohammed is the former Minister for Business Development but is being vetted for the position of Tourism, Arts and Culture, after he was nominated by president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.