Culture is vehicle to promote tourism - Addo

Adidome, (V/R), Oct 11, GNA - Mr William Addo, Volta Regional Director of the Centre for National Culture (CNC) has asked Municipal and District Assemblies in the Volta region to see the promotion of culture and cultural festivals as the vehicle to market their tourist attractions, wealth creation and poverty reduction.

He said "a festival comes out with a lot of benefits. Wealth is created through the exhibition of art works, traditional medicines and other creative works."

"The artists who live in the district get jobs to do and through that creates wealth and employment for their district and dependants," Mr Addo added.

Mr Addo made the call at the Southern Zone cultural festival at Adidome in the North-Tongu District as part of preparations to select a regional team to this year's National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC) scheduled for Wa in the Upper-West Region. However, he expressed reservations at the apparent lack of enthusiasm of most District Assemblies in the region to lend financial and logistical support to the CNC towards organizing the zonal festivals and subsequently the regional festival planned for Kete-Krachi on October 26.

"I hasten to say that, it hasn't been easy dealing with the Assemblies. It is therefore with joy that the Regional Directorate of the CNC wants to thank the Southern Zone District Assemblies for their unalloyed support".

They are, Adaklu-Anyigbe, Keta, Ketu, South-Tongu, Akatsi and North-Tongu Districts.

Mr Addo said the multi-dimensional importance of culture and cultural festivals in addressing the economic and developmental issues confronting the country was well captured in this year's NAFAC theme, "Culture: A vehicle for Wealth Creation".

He said it "is common knowledge that the national economy cannot withstand the pressures and demands of the citizenry", for which reason, "the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) identifies Poverty Reduction and wealth creation as a strategy which the Assemblies are to implement".

Mr Addo explained that District Assemblies, by their mandate therefore, were expected to create avenues for "weavers, artists, crafts-men, performing groups, traditional medicine practitioners etc", who are also part and parcel of the poverty equation to create wealth for themselves and the society.