Agbozume, Volta Region – Ghana’s Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Hon. Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has emphasised that tourism must go beyond generating revenue to become a tool for empowering communities, protecting the environment, and consolidating peace and unity.

Speaking at the 2025 Somètutuza Festival of the Somè Traditional Area, which coincided with World Tourism Day, the Minister underscored that sustainable transformation is the only way for tourism to meaningfully contribute to national development.

Tourism is not only about attractions. It is about empowering local communities, protecting our environment, and preserving the cultural heritage that defines us as a people,” she said.

Hon. Gomashie added that tourism thrives only where there is stability, stressing that peace and unity must remain at the heart of Ghana’s development agenda.

“Without peace, there can be no true tourism. Without unity, there can be no real development,” she declared to loud applause from the gathering.

Expanding Tourism Beyond Accra and Cape Coast

The Minister revealed that her ministry is actively working to expand domestic and regional tourism beyond Accra and Cape Coast to other destinations, including Ketu South, which she described as Ghana’s gateway to Togo and the wider West African sub-region. She pointed to unique sites such as the Abu Lagoon and Fort Priscilla as untapped tourism gems that can boost the local economy.

Youth and Community Empowerment

Calling on traditional leaders, the private sector, and young people, Hon. Gomashie urged them to view culture and festivals as platforms for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. She said the active involvement of youth and women in tourism ventures is essential to achieving inclusive growth.

A Celebration Beyond Culture

This year’s Somètutuza, celebrated jointly with World Tourism Day, carried the theme “Tourism and Sustainable Transformation.” For the Minister, the timing was significant, as it offered a platform to highlight how culture, peace, and unity can serve as pillars of economic transformation.

Hon. Gomashie pledged that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, together with its agencies, will continue partnering with traditional authorities, development actors, and the private sector to transform Ghana’s tourism sector into a force for sustainable development.