Women in Tourism under the auspices of Ministry of Tourism is intensifying economic independence among Ghanaian women with the unveiling of the maiden edition of the Women in Tourism Summit and Award.

The announcement was made at the media launch of the event scheduled for June 21, 2018 at the Accra International Conference Center.

Women in Tourism Summit event themed, "Driving Women Empowerment Through Tourism Development" will address gender inequality as well as encourage more women to venture into the tourism industry.

According to the UNWTO/UN Women report launched at ITB, TOURISM FAIR in Berlin on 11thMarch, 2011, women make up a significant percentage of the tourism workforce, globally.

The Ghana Poverty and Inequality Report disclosed that despite a steady increase in the country’s economic growth of over 7% per year on average, inequality has been increasing and poverty remains prevalent in many areas, especially amongst women.

Leader of the Women in Tourism group, Nancy Quartey Sam, explained that with tourism being one of the lucrative sector Ghana can boast about, her 30-year experience in the tourism industry revealed that there are many women in the tourism industry who have the passion to move the sector forward.

According to her, “these women only need a push in realizing their potentials and realizing their goals.” She averred that the summit will not only make more women independent but heighten the country’s financial status.

Speaking at the launch also, former Chief Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Bridget Katsriku stressed that despite the progress of women participating in development, there is still a wide margin in the proportion of women and men in gainful and descent employment, taking into consideration the overall population of women.

“We are already aware that women constitute more than half the population of our country. However, the same cannot be said of the proportion of women in any sphere of human activity, be it politics, engineering, business, etc.”

Bridget Katsriku noted that the summit’s main focus is to bridge the gap between men and women employed in the tourism sector adding that “it will involve improving employment/entrepreneurship opportunities for women by facilitating their access to jobs and creating possibilities for career development.”

The one-day summit is expected to be graced by the Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Catherine Afeku; Minister for Gender, Child and Social Protection, OtikoAfisah Djaba and other international stakeholders who will lay emphasis on addressing inequality issues, social media marketing as a powerful tool, among others.