By Joseph S. Ansumanah
The Ministry of Tourism and Culture has, on the 24th May, 2018, commenced two days strategic roadmap workshop for the ministry.
Launching the workshop, the Press Secretary at State House, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, said the workshop is timely and called on the staff to put in place strategies that will help develop the tourism sector.
He noted that tourism is one of the top priorities in the New Direction of President Bio’s administration. He is confident that, under the leadership of Minister Memunatu Pratt, the tourism sector will transform to another level. He made it clear that the time of politics is over.
He said, in the New Direction, the objective is to increase revenue and jobs from tourism and promote the cultural heritage of the country. He called on the staff to give the minister their full support, so that the minister will succeed and tourism will contribute to the economic development of the country.
Giving the propose of the workshop, the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Madam Memunatu Pratt, said the workshop is to plan a roadmap for tourism at it is one of the key industries driving change in many parts of the world, adding that Sierra Leone has high potential for tourism development.
She disclosed that since she took office seven days ago, she has found most of the problems in the tourism sector, noting that the tourism sector remains one of the most underdeveloped and underfunded sectors of the economy.
She said the aim of workshop is to strategize a roadmap for the ministry, noting that the tourism sector lack comprehensive tourism institutional capacity to identify and publicize tourism products and services.
The Minister disclosed that the present tourism law is out- dated, noting that, she is going to review and upgrade all tourism-related laws, regulations and policies to ensure consistency with regional and global best practices.
She informed that the ministry is planning to rehabilitee all strategic historic sites in Sierra Leone, adding that the ministry is also planning to designate tourist attraction areas and to provide them with the needed infrastructure.
Addressing the staff, the Minister of Information and Communications, Mohammed Rado Swarray, thanked the minister for conducting such workshop. He assured the Tourism Minister that the Ministry of Information would continue to support the Tourism ministry on the area of ICT. He cautioned staff to be proactive in delivery and encouraged them to work hard for the development of Sierra Leone.