The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, yesterday launched the 2015 Kwahu Easter paragliding festival slated for April 3 to 6 at the Odweanoma Mountain at Atibie in the Eastern Region.
Fifteen pilots from six countries the United States of America (USA), Peru, France, Japan, Belgium and Switzerland have confirmed their participation and would be arriving in the country next week to do their trial runs before the commencement of the festival.
Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu-Agyare, the sector minister, who disclosed this during a media briefing in Accra said, this is the tenth edition of the paragliding festival which had become an established event on the national tourism calendar and continue to draw domestic and international tourists to the Kwahu area.
She said, all the major stakeholders, including the Ghana Tourists Development Company Limited, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Revenue Authority, Meteorological Services Department, National Security Secretariat and the Ghana Army had been duly informed about this year’s festival.
“They have each, in their own specific way, activated the necessary plans to ensure a smooth and successful festival. The Ghana Police, at all levels, national, regional and district, will as usual, execute a comprehensive security and traffic management plan to ensure a peaceful, safe and secure Kwahu during the Easter festival period,” she disclosed.
“At the local level, a planning committee has been set up under the direction of the DCE of Kwahu South, to ensure the execution of the necessary preparatory activities critical to the success of the event,” she said.
Mrs. Ofosu-Agyare said “this year’s event also coincides with the ‘Explore Ghana’ Domestic Tourism initiative, and therefore, offers tourists the opportunity to visit as many sites within the Eastern Region. These visitors exert a positive impact on the economic fortunes of the area”.
According to her, opportunities were created through the festival for arts and crafts vendors to sell their goods, home lodges, restaurants, chop bars and drinking spots are heavily patronised, transport operators enjoy a windfall and there is a general upswing in the patronage of goods and services during the period.
Mrs. Ofosu-Adjare said during the festival a new Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) district office would be inaugurated at Mpraeso to provide technical leadership in tourism development, marketing, standards and quality control to the Kwahu South and its surrounding districts, stressing that, it would galvanise interest in domestic tourism among numerous segments of society to make Kwahu a leading cultural and leisure tourism destination in the country.
She disclosed that the Nkawkaw-Atibie road was being reshaped and resurfaced into a first class road by Messrs Sonitra to open up the region for sustaining tourists interest as well as boosting the local economy.
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