BY LOU SIFA

(With Omer Bilé)

Cote d’Ivoire’s Tourism Development Fund, FDT, a key actor in the country’s new strategy to develop its tourism sector, yesterday took a new step in the implementation of the novel plan.

The Tourism Development Fund is the agency within the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Leisure that is responsible for providing support for projects financing, investments, development and training. This unit headed by Marcel Kouadio N’guettia yesterday gave out a new tool to actors in the sector: tablets configurated by the very FDT with a software to digitalize data base of tourism establishments in the country, their number, the specific level of services they offer.

Côte d’Ivoire tourism on the rise: focus on the Tourism Development Fund

Labeled “Sublime Cote d’Ivoire,” the country’s new strategy is an ambitious five-year plan that aims to help the West African French-speaking nation rise from its current standing as the 12th tourist destination on the continent to the fifth by 2025. The plan rests on nine flagship projects: lowering the cost of flying to the country, improving infrastructure, real estate development, security, training, financing and enhancing the tourism department’s capabilities.

The newly-released tablets are the latest addition to FDT’s valuable contributions to fleshing out the new plan.