The Acting Executive Director of Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) Mr Martin Mireku, on Saturday, cautioned commercial drivers to be disciplined, courteous and to dress decently during the Golden Jubilee Commemoration to enhance the country's image. He said commercial drivers especially rental car operators, taxi cub drivers and other transport operators served as the first intuition psychologist of a nation on a visitor, hence the need to sensitize and educate them to erase any negative notion on the psyche of visitors. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra on preparations of GTB towards the Golden Jubilee celebration of the country, the GTB Executive Director said the Board had instituted an outreach programme to educate and provide key stakeholders with information on tourist sites. They would also be provided with road maps of major cities, location of hotels, restaurants, chop bars, beaches and access numbers of the GTB information centers. He said GTB had organised training programmes for some taxi drivers and tour operators in an attempt to broaden their knowledge in terms of map reading and in-depth lecturers on the history of these tourist sites and the country as a whole to be able to give correct account to visitors. “We believe this initiative would equip the institutions to gear up for the celebration”, he said and urged executives of drivers unions to ensure that their members abided by its rules and regulations. He urged District Assemblies to pass by-laws to compel taxi drivers to wear uniforms to project their image and that of the nation among visitors during the festive period. Mr. Mireku said during the celebrations the country would witness an influx of tourist who might need the service of these taxi drivers and "people who come into contact with tourists should be modestly dressed to create good impression for themselves and the country as a whole", he added. He said the Board was putting in place all the necessary measures and structures that would make the tourist industry live up to expectations during the celebration. Although the Board had not received any programme from the Ghana@50 Secretariat they had developed their own agenda to fit into the national celebration. In an attempt to draw more foreign exchange from the celebrations, the various tourist sites in the country were seeing some facelift in terms receptive facilities and accessibility, he said. He said the Board was setting standards that would regulate the operations of hoteliers and tour operators, not only in terms of facilities but also service delivery. Mr. Mireku expressed worry about sanitation and appealed to metropolitan and municipal and district assemblies to make sure that at least tourist sites were clean. He said school children could be mobilized for clean-up exercises as their contribution to the country's Golden Jubilee celebrations adding, "Visitors cannot come and live in filth". He said Ghana had the resources to take a big share of the revenues generated through tourism this year if "we market the Golden Jubilee commemoration effectively through the provision of adequate and reliable information on the country." The GTB Executive Director also urged private tour operators to market tourism products during the period as sales agents would market any other export commodity to enable foreigners to recognize Ghana as a good tourist destination. "Marketing of our tourist product is the key to entering the international market. It is therefore important for the country to participate in tourism fairs and exhibition internationally," he said. Source: GNA