Four dozens of media professionals and tourism experts from around the world joined their Cameroonian counterparts last on Friday April 29 at the Hilton Hotel in Yaounde for the launch of the first ever annual tourist manifestation called “Cameroon Holiday’s 2011”

organised by the tourist and leisure financial company, SOFITOUL in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism.

Chairing the opening ceremony of the two-day event, on behalf of the Prime Minister and Head of Government, the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Jean Nkuete called on the national and international experts to reflect and propose ideas and strategies aimed at enabling Cameroon make use of its huge potential to become a veritable tourist destination especially after having attained the World Tourism Organisation’s 500,000 visitors-per-year minimum required to be considered a international tourist destination.

Justifying the holding of the event, the Chief Executive Officer of SOFITOUL, Rodolphe Simo Kam said Cameroon Holiday’s was an ambitious initiative coming from a young enterprise to attract international attention on the tourist resources of Cameroon in order to enable tourism become an important component in government’s medium term growth and economic development strategy. He explained that the first edition of the event targeted media professionals, tourism experts and tour operators so as to get them acquainted with the diversity and immensity of Cameroon’s tourist offer.

A press conference was followed by four workshops held on the general theme, “the Tourism Industry and its contribution to economic growth and development” during which experts pinpointed pertinent strengths and weaknesses of Cameroon’s tourist offer in a global context characterised by the growth of tourism as a significant contributor of 11 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product and purveyor of 270 million jobs with Africa recording just only 42 million tourists in 2010. The international tourism experts had a feel of Cameroon’s rich culture exhibited musically by Manu Dibango and a host of others during the cultural evening organised by the Ministry of Culture at the Yaounde Multi-purpose sports complex.

The tourism jamboree continued on Saturday April 30 with a visit to Mefou wildlife Protection Park, at the outskirts of Yaounde and the Ebogo village tourist site at the outskirts of Mbalmayo where they saw part of Cameroon’s rich fauna and flora. They returned to Yaounde to participate at a gala nite held at the Yaounde Mont Febe Hotel on Saturday evening to the benefit of the international charity organisation African Synergy Against Aids and Sufferings.