Freetown –Sierra Leone-The Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Mrs Nabeela Farida Tunis, launched a week-long Tourism Statistics Training workshop at the Bintumani Hotel Conference Hall Freetown.
The event was supported by the World Bank Sierra Leone Economic Diversification Project (SLEDP).
This initiative aims to enhance the skills of tourism professionals from both the public and private sectors in effective data collection, particularly through the establishment of Tourism Satellite Accounts.
In her keynote address, the Minister acknowledged the tourism sector’s achievements but emphasized the detrimental effects of poor statistical management, which obscures progress and hinders support for tourism initiatives.
She expressed that the training would serve as a catalyst for better measurement of the Ministry’s efforts, inform policy-making, and improve data collection at both sectoral and national levels.
The training program will cover various innovative data collection techniques tailored to the local tourism context, including measuring tourism, global best practices, understanding different tourist demographics, and developing comprehensive survey questionnaires.
The Ministry and its agencies are dedicated to establishing a robust data management system, recognizing that accurate data collection is essential for tourism development.
