The Ghana Tourism Development Company (GTDC) on Thursday launched its Fleet Pool Management Service (FPMS), an initiative aimed at trans­forming transport services in the tourism sector through a strategic public-private partnership.The initiative was launched in collabo­ration with the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and the Creative Arts.Under the initiative, individuals who owned cars as well as car rental companies operating in the transport sector would register with GTDC, while GTDC used its marketing and distributive channels to rent out the cars out for various tourism purposes.It is designed to deliver cost-effective and professional chauffeur-driven transport services, particularly for tourist groups and also serves as a platform that operates as a centralised transport coordination service that brought together private car rental operators and garages under one regulated umbrella.Speaking at the event, the Minister of Tourism, Culture, and the Creative Arts, Mrs Abla Dzifa Gomashie, said that the FPMS initiative would help improve mobili­ty and connectivity in the tourism industry.She explained that through the initiative, tourists could easily visit tourist sites and connect with other places without any stress or delay as they would have cars avail­able to transport them to their destination.The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GTDC, Professor Kobby Mensah, in an in­terview with journalists on the sideline said that 12 car rental companies had registered to be part of the initiative."So far, we have about 12 companies who have registered to be part of the initia­tive, and now people are finding it exciting and are joining," he added.Prof.

Mensah said that the partnership with the car rental companies was based on a rigorous framework that ensured compli­ance with GTA laws as well as the general transport laws and proper documentation procedure.Certificates of participation were pre­sented with car rental companies that had registered onto the FPMS initiative after the launch of the FPMS initiative. BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY