The Ministry of Tourism Affairs has also launched the first ever In-Flight Magazine to be used as tool to promote national tourist attractions.
Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister, Memunatu Pratt, said the City Tourist Information Office and the Tourism In-Flight Traveltainment Magazine were part of efforts to rebrand and re-image the country with the goal of changing the negative perception around it and identify it among the world’s tourism destinations.
Mrs Pratt said these latest developments were also part of efforts to ensure availability of timely information and attract tourists and investors. It is also geared towards promoting understanding of domestic tourism among Sierra Leoneans, she added.
Copies of the magazine, according to Mrs Pratt, will be placed in airlines, distributed to Sierra Leone’s various embassies and other missions abroad, as well in financial public institutions in the
country.
Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh presided over the official inauguration of the magazine and the office which is housed within the National Museum in the center of Freetown. He said the two initiatives constituted a “critical step” in boosting the Tourism sector.
Dr Jalloh said Tourism was one of the sectors earmarked among the critical areas the ‘New Direction’ government wanted to use to diversify the country’s economy, in its quest to move from a mineral
dependent economy.
“When you look at the productive nature of the tourism Sector and the critical innovations that are taking place in that sector and what it could bring in terms of economic dividend, I believe Sierra Leone has to tap into that sector,” he stated.
Tourism has been among the least prioritized sectors in the country, getting one of the lowest shares of the national budget. The sector was allocated a paltry Le35.1 billion ($4.23m) of the budget in the
current financial year.
This has been the trend since after the civil war, which experts have blamed on the failure of the country to take advantage of its vast tourism potential, ranging from wild life, to parks, to beaches to historical sites.
VP Jalloh admitted that the neglect of the sector had contributed to slowing down the country’s growth and its chance of being on the world map as a tourist destination. But he noted that his government was working to change that status quo.
He cited several moves already taken towards that direction, including the institution of a Regulatory Framework to cut down on the high air ticket fares through reduction of taxes, as well as a visa-on arrival policy which is under final review.