South African Tourism Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, is set to attend the first UNWTO Presidential Leadership Taskforce on Women Empowerment on Tourism Sector to be held in Accra, Ghana. The Minister will spend two days attending the event hosted by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), where she will be part of a discussion panel under the theme “Tourism policies to enable gender equality”. The event is set to take place at the Accra International Conference Center from November 25 to November 27. This forum will debate proposals and activities geared towards promoting women empowerment and leadership in the African region, including funding. The meeting is also expected to receive a report on the second edition of the Global Report on Women in Tourism. The Minister will also use her time in Ghana – West Africa’s second-largest economy - to interact with tour operators, media and broad stakeholders in the tourism value chain. Tourism is one of the key economic sectors with the potential to contribute to greater equality and empowerment of women and is one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors accounting for 10% of GDP and jobs globally. This interrogation is aimed at strengthening partnerships and driving collaborations that will help forge a stronger cultural exchange among the people of Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. After concluding the work in Ghana, she will lead a delegation to Nigeria for further two-day engagement with tourism stakeholders and trade as well as media. The roadshow, in what is considered Africa’s most populous country, will provide a valuable networking opportunity and an opportunity for the Minister to position South Africa as a destination of choice for West Africans who would like to travel for business, leisure and other related activities. Through interaction with tourism stakeholders including tour operators and the media, the Minister will gain better insights on how the South African tourism industry can be better responsive to the needs of West African travellers. This is part of the work towards increasing the number of international tourist arrivals from the continent and the world at large. This is particularly important as South Africa’s tourism industry responds to the President call that it needs to double domestic arrivals to over 21 million by 2030.