The Member of Parliament (MP) for Kintampo North Constituency, Mr Joseph Kwame Kumah, has appealed to the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Arts and the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), to fully harness the various tourism potentials in the area.

He had earlier solicited support from the private sector, both local and abroad, developers and investors to help make the municipality a tourism hub in the West African sub-region.

Mr Kumah made the disclosure yesterday at Kintampo in the Bono East Region at the closing ceremony of the maiden Kintampo Cultural Festival organised by the Mo Traditional Council.

The MP noted that the festival was aimed at promoting the tourism potential and the cultural identity of the Mo Traditional Area for the socio-cultural development of the Kintampo municipality and the country at large.

He noted that apart from the famous Kintampo Waterfalls, there were other potential tourist sites namely, the Fuller Falls, the Centre of Ghana Monument, the Slave Cave, Kunsu Slave Market and the Black Volta, all in the Kintampo municipality.

The MP said most of these tourist attractions unfortunately remained unknown and undeveloped despite their numerous economic benefits to the national treasury, adding, this is what we have as a people.

Mr Kumah said tourism has become the fourth largest contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) after cocoa, gold and oil and added that the tourism sector was expected to generate five billion dollars by December 2022.

“Even in the face of COVID- 19, the tourism industry looks promising and showing great potential for growth. The Kintampo Waterfalls alone attracted more than 23,806 visitors in 2019, with majority been expatriates,” he added.

The parliamentarian expressed worry about how the rest of the tourist sites in the Kintampo municipality were not being visited by these visitors due to lack of awareness and development of the sites.

Mr Kumah implored the GTA and its key stakeholders to see tourism in the area as a pillar of economic development and therefore called for a broader collaboration towards achieving it.

“I pledge as an MP for this constituency to support the full development of tourism potentials in Kintampo and its environs. Let us come together to make our area progress,” he emphasised.

The MP encouraged the chiefs and people of the Mo Traditional Area and other authorities in the municipality to protect the natural environment for the sake of posterity and the enhanced welfare of residents.