The Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs and the World Bank have engaged stakeholders in the public and private sectors in a one-day consultative meeting on Tourism Investment promotion.

The meeting was held at Njala venue, Lumley beach road, Freetown.

The objective of the engagement which was spearheaded by a tourism consultant was to work closely with the Ministry to identify and promote Sierra Leone’s top tourism market to drive tourism product development opportunities and attract  foreign direct investment.

The project includes the development of an investment portfolio and marketing collateral featuring the top 15 tourism investment opportunities, the completion of feasibility studies for the top five investment opportunities.

Speaking to stakeholders in the public and private sector, the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr Memunatu Pratt said the consultation is geared towards securing ground laying activities in International marketing, infrastructure, legal environment, tourism governance, hospitality development, entertainment for the country.

Pratt added that with support from the World Bank, in the next 18 to 24 months, places like Leicester peak, Takugama, River number 2 beach, Bureh beach, Banana Island, Wara Wara and others would have been developed and will attract more tourists in the country.

She identified that the new airport is one the biggest game changer to tourism in Sierra Leone and

look at investment opportunities and that they have a professional Consultant who is ready to take them through the process.

The Director of Tourism, Mohamed Jalloh presented the areas of investment in the tourism sector featuring it unique selling points and also highlighted the numerous strides the Ministry has made in repositioning the sector to conform with contemporary global tourism requirements.

The Consultant, John Perrottet in his presentation of Building Tourism Investment in Sierra Leone said for Sierra Leone to become a competitive tourism investment destination, engagements with the public and private sector are important, hence appealed to investors to look into Sierra Leone.

Participants of the session including key stakeholders in the public and private sector gave their various contributions from their standpoints as to what they think is required for tourism investment in the tourism sector to blossom.

Credit: Information Unit, MTCA



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