June 29

WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 2018
GTA to collaborate with
ATWAG to promote tourism
BY ERICA ARTHUR
THE EXECUTIVE body of the
Arts and Tourism Writers Association
of Ghana (ATWAG) has
met with top officials of the
Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA)
in Accra to strengthen their existing collaboration
and discuss ways to accelerate the
growth of the country’s tourism sector.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
GTA, Akwasi Agyeman, expressed his gratitude
to the leadership of ATWAG for taking
steps to engage stakeholders in the industry,
including the GTA, to learn more about their
operations.
He said the move was very important because
there were a lot of misconceptions
about the mandate and operations of the
tourism authority, which the media could help
to correct.
“Indeed, this meeting is very timely,” he
stressed.
The two bodies agreed to hold a number
of workshops for players in the tourism industry
and arts/tourism writers to offer them
the platform for mutually beneficial interactions.
According to Mr Agyeman, “Collaborating
with ATWAG on these kinds of training will
make members of the association, including
•FROM L-R: Mr Francis Doku (ATWAG Vice president), Mr William Asiedu (ATWAG President), Mr
Akwasi Agyeman, CEO of GTA, Mr Mic Yamoah (Secretary) and Mr Ben Anane-Nsiah, Director, GTA
bloggers, understand the industry architecture,
so that they can be abreast of our activities
in order to give their audience the right
information to help sell Ghana’s tourism better.”
He added that “The internet is a very important
media tool and bloggers, who do all
their work online, should be empowered and
informed to disseminate the right information
concerning arts and tourism.”
A Director at the GTA, Mr Anane Nsiah,
noted that ATWAG’s partnership with the
GTA was a laudable cooperation in view of
the mutual benefits that the two bodies stood
to gain and the positive impact it will have on
Ghana’s tourism.
The president of ATWAG, Mr William
Asiedu, said, “The empowerment programmes
will help writers to familiarise themselves
with the right information and therefore
produce good content rather than
concentrating on the speed to break news”.
“We want to strengthen the arms of arts
and tourism writers so that they can report
well through the application of news elements
such as balance, fairness and verification
of facts.”
The vice president of
ATWAG, Mr Francis
Doku, said, “We are in the
speed era, but Journalists
should take their time to
apply the news elements to
make their stories complete”.
The other ATWAG Executives
who were present
at the meeting were Mr
Mic Yamoah (Secretary)
and Kwame Dadzie (Public
Relations Officer).
ATWAG presented a citation
to the CEO of
GTA, Mr Agyeman, as a
token of their appreciation
for honouring their invitation
to the inauguration
and induction of the association’s
executive earlier
this year.
Aside music, I am a nurse
...Says Wendy Shay
AFRO-POP SINGER,
Wendy Shay, has disclosed
that she is a nurse by profession
in Stuttgart, Germany.
According to the ‘Uber
Driver’ hit maker, she
studied nursing in Germany
for three years and
has worked as a midwife
in one of the biggest hospital
in Stuttgart.
When Dr Pounds, the
host
of ‘Hitz Gallery’ on Hitz F
M, asked if she stopped
working as a nurse, she
said, “For now music is
my full time job. I studied
music for four years in
Germany.”
“Professionally, I have
put the nursing on hold
but offer help to those
who are sick and call for
my assistance and advice,”
she said.
Born Wendy Addo, she
is a Ghanaian who hails
from Kwahu in the Eastern
Region but was raised
in Germany.
Wendy has signed a
five-year contract with
Rufftown Records and
that is her first label to
work with as a musician.
It is worthy of note
that the same label nurtured
and managed Priscilla
Opoku-Kwarteng, known
in showbiz as Ebony
Reigns before her untimely
death.
Ebony passed on
Thursday, February 8,
2018 at the age of 20 in a
car accident on the Kumasi-Sunyani
highway.
She became a household
name in the music
industry before she died.
•Wendy Shay,
musician