He said the project would transform the beach area into a tourism enclave to create jobs for the teeming youth.

Presenting the 2017 budget in parliament, he said tourism, culture and creative arts remained one of the most underdeveloped sectors in the economy despite the immense growth potential and opportunities for job creation.

He noted that government’s objective is to transform the country into a major meeting, incentive conference and exhibition center.  “To facilitate this, we will aggressively develop our tourist sites to bring them to world class standards.” Mr Ofori-Atta said the Ministry would also partner the private sector to develop the Efua Sutherland Park into an ultra-modern world class Park.

He said: “specifically, we will use IT to promote and market tourism via the single portal window.”  The Ministry will also undertake a food festival to showcase the diverse rich Ghanaian foods through cooking competition throughout the country, he added.