Make Ghana A Major Foreign Exchange Earner Through Tourism

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As the world celebrates World Tourism Day, a local NGO — Voice of Developing Communities — is urging Ghanaians to make the tourism industry a major foreign exchange earner for the country.

In a circular released to the media, the NGO notes that tourism sites in the country serve as a means of economic development that open up employment opportunities through various means.

They cited examples such as the expansion and modernisation of modes of transportation, be it through road, rail, water, air and a network of feeder roads to provide easy access to tourist sites.?? ?

Voice of Developing Communities notes that despite the fact Ghana exposes vibrant historical sites of attraction, the country?s tourism sector remains stagnant in terms of creating jobs and attracting foreign tourists.

They observe that the country?s inability to promote Ghana as a preferred tourist destination is fundamentally due to poor perception and understanding of the advantages from the tourism industry.

?Until Ghana sees tourism as it sees gold and cocoa, the country will still not make anything out of it. We cannot compete on leisure, religion and business with respective destinations like South Africa, Kenya, Dubai, and Rome.?

The group says the country is an expensive destination for several reasons, and when compared to these established tourist destinations only curiosity would cause a tourist to want to still come to Ghana rather than considerations of cost.

The NGO, which has been given airtime on a community radio station in Pokuase in the Ga West Municipality to help promote the sector, notes that addressing the social and cultural issues of communities in a positive way can be an important tool in poverty alleviation at the local level.

Signed by its Executive Director, Thomas Abroni, Voice of Developing Communities says inefficient infrastructure and poor marketing of the country as a preferred destination, low awareness of the industry?s potential as a viable economic sector and poor sanitation are some of the drawbacks.

The lack of skilled manpower and professionalism to enhance service delivery is contributing factors to the sector downfall. The Voice believes tourism can be used to address poverty in the rural areas where it is most pronounced.

Tourists, they note, spend on accommodation, food souvenirs and so on at places visited. The provision of social amenities in such areas would go a long way to open up such areas to attract tourists to spend time there.

The group believes that very hamlet, village, town, city, district or region has a unique tourism potential crying out for exploration and development. This, they argue, would reduce the rural-urban drift in search of non-existent white-collar jobs.

The say some laws and regulations are archaic and need reform to boost tourism. Some of the laws were enacted as far back as thirty years ago. ?

To attain the vision of a preferred destination in tourism, the country must attract about a million tourists and over annually, which also means a corresponding growth in the expansion of tourism facilities across the country — including restaurants, pubs, nightclubs and cultural events.

The incentives open to private sector investors could propel this vision with the growth of tourism sites to create jobs for Ghanaians.

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