The Minister of Tourism, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare has launched the 2014, Kwahu Paragliding Festival in Accra.
This year’s paragliding festival, which is the 9th in the series, is slated to take place from April 18 to 22, 2014 at Atibea, Kwahu.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said the festival, which coincides with the Easter festivities in Kwahu has given an international dimension to the popular Kwahu Easter and has contributed to the promotion of Ghana’s domestic tourism.
She said this year’s event promises to be an exciting one since there would be other side attractions, including a photographic exhibition on the tourism potentials of Kwahu, a craft bazaar, as well as tours to explore the treasures of Kwahu.
The sector Minister noted that the mission of the tourism sector was not only to promote Ghana’s tourism internationally, but also at the domestic front.
She said the festival over the years is rapidly turning the area into one of the preferred areas for domestic tourism, thus other tourism attractions and facilities could be developed for more gains, such as the creation of more jobs, to breathe more life into the socio-economic fabric of the locality
Mrs Ofosu-Adare noted that the event will also witness 15 tandem paragliding pilots from the United States, Japan, Peru, Belgium, Thailand and France.
She noted that it is the Ministry’s expectation that the festival will progress from an annual event into a regular leisure activity in Ghana, and that, the Ministry was considering building a second paragliding festival for corporate Ghana.
She urged the public to celebrate the festival in grand style, with decency and respect for cultural values saying, “Easter should not be a period for immorality but one for reflection. It should be a time when we all resolve to work towards promoting peace, unity, and development in the Kwahu area and Ghana as a whole.”
Charles Osei Bonsu, Acting Executive Director, Ghana Tourism Authority, said the Ghana Police Service would deploy 400 police men to the area to beef up security, assuring that, adequate security arrangements have been put in place by the security services to ensure a safe secured and trouble-free environment for a successful event.
He said the rate for individuals who would want paraglide is GHc200.00, and that, participants would be given souvenirs, such as flyers, t-shirts and wrist bands, among others.
Mr Osei Bonsu urged the media to whip up the momentum for the events to attract the desired huge patronage, and urged the public to come in their numbers to patronize the event and make the Easter celebrations a memorable one.
Source: GNA