Accra The World Tourism Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are to jointly establish a National Tourism Information Centre in Ghana. The Centre will collate information on tourist arrivals and other statistics relevant to the tourism industry. A Ministry of Tourism Press release issued in Accra today, said the decision is the outcome of the just-ended 55th Executive Council Meeting of WTO leaders Conference held in Manila, the Philippines. Ghana was represented by Mrs Vida Amaadi Yeboah, Minister of Tourism, who is also Chairman of WTO Africa Commission and spokeswoman for Africa on the Executive Council. In the Manila Declaration, the conference called for the formulation and eventual adoption of a global Code of Ethics for Tourism. The conference said world leaders should ensure that tourism development planning is aimed at preserving the legacy, heritage and integrity of tourism destinations world-wide. They are also expected to support a greater involvement of communities in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation processes of tourism policies, programmes and projects within the context of national objectives and priorities. While affirming the socio-economic importance of tourism, the declaration urged the commitment of all stake-holders in the sector to ensure that negative social impacts of tourism like sex tourism and child prostitution are eliminated. The release said the conference considered WTO’s 1998/1999 annual draft budget, technical cooperation agreements and other work programmes. Gri
