At Tourism Day celebration in B’da: Minister Bello Bouba salutes resilience of tourism promoters in NW.

The minister was speaking Friday, September 27, in Bamenda. This was during the celebration of the World Tourism Day 2024. The event took place under the theme: "Tourism and Peace".

Also present during the celebration in Bamenda was Governor Adolphe Lele L'afrique, the Regional Delegate of Tourism and Leisure for the North West Region, Marcel Muanze, traditional authorities, promoters of tourism and many others.

In his speech, Minister Bello Bouba Maigari revealed that the celebration is taking place in Bamenda for a special reason.

The member of government said he had come to Bamenda to salute the resilience of the population and to encourage the promoters of tourism, whose sector has been crippled by the Anglophone crisis.

"We decided to come and celebrate this day in Bamenda that has been suffering from insecurity since 2016. This is to salute the resilience of the population and encourage promoters of tourism to continue. What we found is very encouraging. This region and its people are really resilient and have decided to beat insecurity with its promoters," Minister Bello Bouba said.

Promoters of tourism awarded 

Through the North West Regional Delegation of Tourism and Leisure, some promoters of tourism and leisure in the region were awarded for being outstanding.

The award also served as an encouragement to actors of the sector. The awards range from best hotel, best lounge, best restaurant and bar, amongst others.

Some of the awardees included Admiralty Services, Big G Snack Bar, Jet Set, Blue Pearl Hotel, Dreamland, Ayaba Hotel, Epic Hotel and others.

On his part, the North West Regional Delegate of Tourism and Leisure, Marcel Muanze, who organised a peace walk with hotel managers, said the tourism sector is not left out in the peace building process in the region.

"Tourism is actually a catalyst to peace because it's like a movement of people from one area to another, and leaning about different cultures. So, we're trying to galvanise and see how the tourism sector can be an agent of peace," Muanze said.

The celebration of the 2024 world tourism day in Bamenda ended with the donation of gifts to the Minister. One of the most significant were donations by the North West House of Chiefs to the Minister of Tourism and Leisure. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3246 of Tuesday October 01, 2024