The State Department of Tourism is mandated with provision of strategic policy direction and leadership in tourism development and management in the country as provided for in the Executive Order No.2 of 2013. In this regard, the Ministry plays the oversight role of coordinating and overseeing policy direction and planning; product diversification and experience; tourism marketing and promotion; synergy building and improving the alignment between supply and demand; enhancing competitiveness and investment potentials and monitoring and evaluation of tourism programmes and activities in the country.

Tourism sector by its nature is unique, it draws from other sectors its existence and growth. It is essentially an amalgamation of various subsectors such as transport, accommodation, food and beverages, recreation and entertainment. Tourism products and services generally cut across service providers and geographical locations. For instance, a tourist enters the country through an international airport and travels by road to a leisure destination of choice in an entirely different location which constitutes the tourist’s experience. Moreover, tourism packages are mainly circuit-based whereby major attractions and ecosystems are shared by a number of counties or locations. This therefore calls for a considerable degree of coordination and cooperation as envisaged under the constitutional provisions of Article 189 between the different levels of governments and stakeholders to ensure harmonized and sustainable development of tourism in the country.

Download the REVISED NATIONAL TOURISM POLICY, 2020