The EKGS Culinary Institute has held its 18th graduation ceremony at the national Theatre in Accra. The programme coincided with a spectacular cake, pastry and floral exhibition mounted by 120 grandaunts who have undergone six months intensive courses in cake making and designing, pastries making, cookery, balloon and floral arrangement. It was under theme 50 years of independent the way forward for the strategic development of the hospitality industry. Some of the items displayed included wedding cakes, birthday cakes and fancy cakes in which some of them were designed with pictures of important personalities while others were made in a form of football pitches, corporate logos and baby courts. There was a mad rush for wedding cakes and pastry products after the programme as aspiring couples were busily bargaining for wedding cakes and other gift items meant for their planed wedding. The event which was described by some patrons as unprecedented brought hundreds of people from various part of the country which filled the theater to capacity. Bernice Ofei, one of the country's finest female gospel artistes sang some of her latest sons which saw guests dancing throughout. In her welcome address the Founder and Director of the Institute Mrs.EfuaGoode-Arthur appealed to Government to waive taxis on tourism equipments and other tools to encourage more people to take advantage of the industry. She noted ,, if we want to attract patrons to our facilities we must be prepared to learn new things , keep our facilities spick and span and go to the extra miles of being extra special,, She said this will help them to explore available opportunities in the industry. She once again admonished the aviation industry to reduce the air fares to attract more tourists into the country. She said some of the challenges impeding the industry are high air fares charged by the airline operators in Ghana. Mrs. Arthur said the growth of the tourism sector has gained an international recognition for the country which according to her will bring more tourists to the country. She however said that it is imperative for players in the industry to embark on capacity building and long term strategies to enable them to meet the global tourism demands EKGS Culinary Institute located at Dansoman round about was established eight years ago with six students can now boast of remarkable growth. The school since its inception has trained thousands people who are now working with leading hospitality companies in Ghana. The chairman of the function Mr. Ransford Tetteh who doubles as President of the Ghana Journalists Association and Editor of the Daily Graphic, the biggest selling news paper in Ghana congratulated the graduands and urged them not to be complacent but keep on upgrading their skills in other to enable them excel on the job market.