Ghanaian playwright and poet, Chief Moomen, has proffered some ideas on projecting tourist sites in the Volta Region.

He told Joy FM’s Kwame Dadzie on the Afadjato edition of ‘Showbiz A-Z’ that one of the things that should be done by the communities and tourism officials in the region is to provide better brand tools for the sites.

He said arts is a social investment because of its long term impact on communities and societies.

Chief noted that even though sometimes it is difficult for communities to fund projects, if they understand the essence of supporting the arts they go all out in pushing them to the top.

“We need people within the communities to be able to say look, we need to invest in telling and preserving our story. If some distinguished people in the Ewe community came together and said look let’s re-enact the Ewe story in grand theatrical offering or in major cinematic opportunity and let’s find some brilliant people in the community, that’s one way to promote,” he noted.

“If someone takes it upon themselves that instead of building another house to rent out or to sell somewhere in Accra or somewhere else, I want to put some significant income or money into let’s say Afadjato, I want to rebrand the whole place. For example, the young ones who take us around should be branded. They should be wearing Afadjato kind of nice T-shirts, some nice sneakers, taking you around, there should be a small restaurant available and all of that,” he added.

Responding to Chief’s submission, the Volta Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Alexander Kwame Nketia said one of the things they did to give tourism in the region a facelift was the ‘Visit Volta, Experience Ghana’ initiative in which they prominent media people who hail from the region to push the agenda.

The communities that own Afadjato have used the proceeds from tourists visitations to build guest houses and other amenities. 

The Afadjato edition of ‘Showbiz A-Z’, was part of Joy FM’s Ghana Month activities to promote Ghana’s culture in March, the month of Ghana’s independence. 

After a successful edition of the outdoor programme in Cape Coast in 2021, there was a encore in Kumasi where the team discovered Asanteman’s rich tourist centres and culture. 

The programme also hosted Togbega Homatekpor V, the Paramount Chief of the Gbledi Traditional Area; Togbe Adabra IV, Mankrado of Gbledi Gbogame, the Acting Chairman of the Afadjato-Tagbo Eco-Tourism Centre, Kuma Gavi.