By Ama Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyeman
Koforidua — A total of 60 per cent of the $10 million tourism grant approved by the World Bank to bolster the tourism industry, is to be given to women in the sector, the Technical Advisor of the Ghana Tourism Development Project (GTDP), Professor Gabriel Eshun, has said.
He said the money was to enable women to improve
tourism-related work to the benefit of the entire tourism industry.
Prof. Eshun announced these at a sensitisation workshop for
stakeholders in the tourism industry, in Koforidua, in the Eastern Region.
He urged women, who needed help to apply for the fund,
saying consideration would be based on their needs and qualification.
The $10 million tourism grant is part of the $40 million
World Bank approved grant to the government of Ghana, under the International
Development Association credit, targeted at specific tourism, arts and culture
destinations and those on the value chain in the country.
Prof. Eshun said the grant would be disbursed under three
categories -
the COVID-19 Relief Grants, Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) and Site Upgrade Grants, all targeted at developing tourist sites and
destinations.
Participants, included hoteliers, tour operators,
restaurants and food services operators, tourist sites owners, tourism-related
transport operators, arts and craft entertainment industry operators from the
Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta regions.
Prof. Eshun noted that women formed the nucleus of the
tourism industry.
"It has been empirically proven that women are better
users of monies than men, thus the urgent need to support women, who were
mostly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The World Bank is also concerned about women, children
and the disabled. This is why we will give 60 per cent of the $10 million grant
to them," Prof. Eshun said.
The Chief Executive of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr
Kwadwo Antwi, said the tourism sector was severely hit and faced with
challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The situation, he said, 'pushed' government to negotiate
with the World Bank to secure funding for the sector.
"This is the first time the tourism sector is
negotiating funding from an international partner and hence whatever we do with
the grant should contribute to the said objectives we have set to
achieve," Mr Antwi said.
He said it was necessary for the country continue to
developing its tourism sector, which was the new gold to develop its economic
sector.
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