Accra, June 26, GNA - Mr Luigi Cabrini, Director, Sustainable Development of Tourism of the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) on Thursday painted a bleak picture for the global tourism and hospitality industry for 2009 saying the growth for the sector was not good. He said despite the global economic downturn, Africa was likely to do well in terms of international tourist arrivals second to the Middle East with a growth rate of between 1-4 percent and 2-4 percent respectively.

Mr Cabrini gave the forecast at the second Quarter Public-Private Partnership Forum (PPPF) for key stakeholders like the Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) in Accra.

The GHATOF is an umbrella body for 21 trade associations established to encourage and promote effective tourism in Ghana whose membership includes Travel and Tour operators, car rentals and hoteliers.

Mr Cabrini, whose presentation was on the "Effect of the global economic downturn on the tourism and hospitality and strategies to mitigate the impact," said Africa was also expected to benefit from increased air transport and growth in the hospitality industry. He said Ghana was the third most important tourism destination in West Africa in terms of international arrivals apart from Nigeria and Senegal.

He said international tourists arrivals for 2007 was 587,000 whiles tourism receipts for the same year amounted to 908 million dollars with an average annual growth rate of between 2000-2007 pegged at 5.7 percent.

The Minister of Tourism, Mrs Juliana Azuma-Mensah whose speech was read by Mr Kwabena Akyeampong, her Deputy announced the preparation of a new tourism bill to transform the current Ghana Tourist Board into and Authority.

She said the bill would also create a Tourism Development Fund (TDF) to help resource the tourism sector in terms of human resource development, review existing curricular in tourism and hospitality training institutions and the development of community based eco-tourism sites.

She assured that her outfit was ready to work closely with the ministries, department and agencies, metropolitan and district assemblies, the private sector and traditional authorities to develop enviable tourism industry capable of creating wealth, employment and reducing poverty.

She urged all the new District Chief Executives to incorporate tourism in their annual plans and make budgetary provision for the improvement of tourist sites especially improving access roads and other infrastructure in their jurisdiction.