Sierra Leone To Host Regional Tourism Conference

By Fatmata Mohamed Bangura
On Tuesday 22nd October 2024, the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Nabeela Tunis disclosed that Sierra Leone will host the Regional Conference with the theme: “Blood and Empowerment to Education, Innovation, and Finance Access” at the prestigious Freetown City Council Hall from the 29th to 31st October 2024.
She made the announcement at the Government Weekly Press Briefing at the Miata Conference Centre Youyi Building in Freetown.
She added that it is the first time Sierra Leone will host a conference of this nature.
She further mentioned that the conference will bring women together from across the country and the continent, in collaboration with the United Nations Tourism.
Minister Tunis stated that the UN Tourism has the expertise in tourism matters adding that they had the privilege to engage with UN Tourism Secretary General earlier in January this year.
She disclosed that during the engagement, they shared their plans for the tourism sector in Sierra Leone.
She mentioned that one of the key issues they are interested in is the way the Government is engaging in Tourism, especially the “Tourism for All Campaign” initiative introduced by the Ministry this year, aimed at raising awareness among ordinary citizens about the value of tourism.
She mentioned how people used to compare Sierra Leone to the Republic of Gambia in terms of tourism, noting that it took 30 to 40 years for Gambians to fully understand the value of tourism, unlike Sierra Leone.
She said that Tourism came to the forefront in Sierra Leone in 2018 when the President included it as an economic global sector in the first action development plan.
Minister Tunis highlighted that following this, it started attracting interest from financial institutions and other bodies, leading to several engagements, with 25 already held this year. She noted the rapid bounce back of tourism after Covid-19.
Minister Tunis described Sierra Leone as a beautiful country, not just in terms of its people, but in every aspect. She mentioned that the conference would host about 600 people, with 500 being women from communities across the provinces. They have taken the Tourism Business nah All Man’s Business campaign to provinces and cities to educate people about tourism.
In conclusion, Minister Tunis mentioned that they are expecting the Women in Tourism Leadership Africa Committee, which Sierra Leone chairs, to discuss the structure and action plan for the next 2 years.
This includes taking an agenda item to all member states of the African Union (AU) to implement on behalf of women in tourism sectors. 70 percent of the workforce in the tourism sector are women, and the goal is to empower them to become more productive, she said.