The Western Regional Directorate of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has taken some selected students of Kow Nketsia AME Zion Junior High School (JHS) on a tour to explore the Bisa Abrewa Museum, a tourist site at Nkotompo in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis.
The excursion was part of activities to mark this year’s National Chocolate Day, on the theme: “Eat Chocolate, Stay Healthy and Grow Ghana”, with the sub-theme: “Explore Ghana, Eat Chocolate”.
The Day highlights Ghana’s unique cocoa products, making the country a preferred destination for cocoa-based tourism, while appreciating the contribution of all stakeholders within the industry.
The celebration is a partnership between the GTA, Ghana Cocoa Board and the Cocoa Processing Company, under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
As part of activities for this year’s celebration, the GTA organised a tour to selected tourist sites in all the 16 regions of Ghana to create awareness on those sites to promote domestic tourism.
Mr Henry Yeleduor, the Western Regional Director of GTA, said the move was in line with his office’s domestic tourism drive to introduce young people to some major tourist centres in the Region.
“…So that beyond the Chocolate Day, they will develop the habit of travelling and touring the country to see our heritage and historic sites,” he said.
“The National Chocolate Day is a day to show love using chocolates, and while we do that, we have decided to partner the Bisa Abrewa Museum to bring our students here to appreciate some of the beautiful and unique tourist sites we have in the Region.”
Mr Yeleduor noted that the theme for this year’s National Chocolate Day was carefully chosen to put a spotlight on the nutritional values of Ghana’s cocoa-based products.
He said: “Our cocoa is one of the best in the world and that means Ghana’s cocoa-based products, including chocolate, are very rich in nutrients, so we as citizens must consume more of such products for good health.”
The cocoa sector contributed enormously to the growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), he said, and called on the authorities to put in place efficient measures to stop activities such as illegal mining that destroyed cocoa farms.
The Bisa Abrewa Museum houses one of the world’s largest private collection of artefacts, sculpture and audio-visual representations of the African story.
It has about 2,200 artefacts, sculptural pieces and photographs of heroes of the African struggle and African American Civil Rights Movement as well as other black personalities in the French Portugues and Spanish Caribbean.
GNA