The Minister Nominee for Tourism and Creative Arts, Catherine Ablema Afeku has proposed charter flight services among international airlines to reduce the cost of airfares in Ghana.
In her view, tourists to Ghana should be paying relatively less for flight services since the high demand will drive down cost.
The high cost of air ticket fares has been listed as one of many factors impeding attraction of tourists to Ghana.
The development has been partly blamed on the 17.5 percent VAT on air travels by the former government.
But speaking at the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Monday, Catherine Afeku stressed that pool flights should reduce costs and bring some relief to tourists to Ghana.
“For the air fares, it is an issue of demand and supply. We now have thirty-four airlines which will increase to thirty-five by the end of the month with the coming on board of Air France. The only way to work with them is to conduct charter or group tours; currently we only have individual tickets and that tends to be expensive. But if we are able to convince them to book groups coming to Ghana, then the cost will go down,” she explained.
The Minister Nominee also hinted of how a marine drive project will help to cut down the high cost of hotel services by some top hotels in the country.
The project covers a land size of 200 acres close to the castle.
Upon completion, the marine drive is expected to accommodate about thirty five-star hotels along the beach.
The project will also provide conference facilities for both domestic and foreign tourists.
“If we are able to get the marine drive, it has a master plan over thirty five-star hotels. Demand and supply will set in so that if one hotel is charging 300 cedis with another charging 150 cedis, then the customer will decide which to patronize. The facility also has the opportunity to give us a conference hub,” Catherine Akefu added.
Works on the marine drive which commenced in the 1960s have since been given cabinet approval in the erstwhile NDC administration.
Meanwhile Madam Afeku has stressed the need to develop Ghana’s 540 kilometers coastal line by addressing open defecation.
This according to her will position Ghana to compete with the Gambia and Senegal in the West African sub-region.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
