Douala Maritime hosts 7th Responsible tourism conference from 28 to 30 January 2020

The personal representative of the Minister of State, Minister of Tourism and Leisure, Prof. Angeline Florence Ngomo, Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure chaired the opening ceremony on 28 January in Douala.

     The conference inaugural talk was delivered by Prince Emmanuel and Ngassa Happi, Executive President of Inter State Federation of Trade Unions of Travel Agencies and Tourism of West and Central Africa

and Prince Alexandre Kum’a Ndumbe III, academic and pan-African activist of international renown and Founding President of the AfricAvenir International Foundation. Both patriarchs set the scene for the conference proper which should come out with proposals and solutions adapted to each environment.

According to Mr. Auguste Mbappe Penda, CNSC General Manager and Douala Maritime Museum designer/ project owner, “This conference is yet another opportunity for the Douala Maritime Museum to extend its promotion internationally for greater visibility. It was in the same light that the Douala Maritime Museum, the only African museum that is a member of the International Maritime Museums Congress (CIMM), was honoured to host the travelling exhibition organised in 2019 by the International Maritime Organization ( IMO)  to commemorate its 70th anniversary. This was a real mark of recognition.

Marc Dumoulin, President of the Tourisme Sans Frontière NGO went well beyond organisation of the conference to express his admiration for this handy works of the CNSC: “With its impressive architecture and rich collections, the Douala Maritime Museum delivers on ideas. Immediately, we envisaged cooperation within the framework of a programme to promote the Douala Maritime Museum and to preserve and enhance cultural heritage. In the area of promotion, together, we planned to move the Douala Maritime Museum from the national to the international level. The aim is to give it more exposure and more international attention.

The work of the 7^th Responsible and Sustainable Tourism Conference will comprise round tables and thematic workshops which will enable participants to reach strong recommendations aimed at boosting Tourism that respects and preserves the cultural integrity of all peoples.