The 2022 edition of the annual week-long festival, Youth In Tourism Festival (YOTOFEST) slated for June, 2022, has been launched.
The launch ceremony, which is the third edition of the festival, took place at the North Campus Mini-Conference Room of UEW. Organized by Taskforce of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) in collaboration with the Tourism Society of Ghana and SHAPE Attitude Ghana, the festival is on the theme: ‘The Youth, Tourism and Sanitation’.
The 2022 edition of the festival, according to the organizers, will be held at the University of Education, Winneba. It is the first for the Central Region and would be a flagship at the regional level, allowing young participants to be part of a unique experience aimed at promoting youth engagement in the tourism sector and empowering younger generations to initiate more sustainable domestic tourism promotions.
According to the organizers of the event, it would also enhance youth empowerment and engagement in tourism, create tourism business incubation hubs and partnerships for the youth, as well as participation in the activities of international youth tourism associations, international non-governmental youth organizations among others.
The festival would also promote regular programme of student exchanges, aimed at giving opportunities to young people from different backgrounds to get to know each other and to foster inter cultural learning, as well as promote domestic tourism among the youth.
Supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the festival will have aboard top-notch personalities to share their experiences on tourism, creative arts, tourism promotion and education.
Launching the festival, the Director of Tourism at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Nana K. Kankam, who launched it on behalf of the Tourism Minister, Ibrahim Awal Mohammed, noted that tourism could not exist without the environment. He specified that there is a symbiotic relationship between the environment and tourism.
“So, in its absence, you cannot operate tourism; therefore, if the environment is not clean, neat or it’s not supportive, life cannot trend”.
Nana K. Kankam
Dr. B.B.B. Bingab who is the Dean of Student Affairs at UEW posited that as an institution, they prioritize clean environment for which reason they had invested heavily in making their campus litter-free. According to him, UEW is perhaps the only tertiary in the country with a dedicated Sanitation Taskforce.
Dr. Bingab mentioned that the adverse effect of environmental pollution should be cause for concern as it makes it difficult to forecast atmospheric conditions.
“We’ve polluted the environment so much that it’s difficult to predict what will happen next. We are expecting every Tom, Dick and Harry to be part of ensuring that our immediate environment is clean”.
Dr. B.B.B. Bingab
Dr. Bingab added, that “We want to nurture the youth so that they can be environmentally conscious and ensure its sustainability”.
The Chief Executive Officer of SHAPE Attitude Ghana, Mr. Wonderful Baisie Ghartey, on his part, said that several studies had shown that sanitation is the best investment for tourism, adding attaining hygiene and sanitation was critical for promoting tourism.
There were other addresses by representatives of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Tourism Society of Ghana, Ghana Tourism Development Company and T. T. Brothers Limited.
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