Ghana Tourism Authority

GHANA TOURISM AUTHORITY

LAND OF WARMTH & CULTURE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: GHANA TOURISM AUTHORITY

LAND OF WARMTH &CULTURE Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Spencer Doku, Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation Manager at the Ghana Tourism Authority, about investing in environmental preservation, training, and the future of tourism in Ghana.

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The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) derives its powers from the Tourism Act, 2011, and exists as a body corporate established to regulate the tourism industry and to promote the sustainable development of the tourism industry internationally and within Ghana.

GTA views sustainability as key to the sector’s long-term development. “We are concerned with sustainability because our strength is culture and heritage which must be preserved,” explains Spencer Doku, Research Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at GTA. “We also need to protect flora and fauna and take action against environmental degradation. We want tourism to be sustainable so that generation after generation will enjoy and continuously enjoy everything that Ghana has and is offering”. In our development, we are concerned with the country’s culture, heritage, and environment, as these are pillars for tourism.”

“There are key issues in our vision that guide development,” says Mr. Doku. “Effective regulations and standardization by the Authority is essential to provide guidance for the growth of the tourism sector. To ensure sustainable growth of tourism we are doing this through better deployment of technology, strengthening of public-private partnerships, aggressive marketing and robust investment, and uplifting the service industry and health standards. We cannot do these successfully without involving our stakeholders, so we involve them at all levels.

GTA does not compromise on stakeholder’s involvement. Finally, we are concerned about enhancing accountability and sharing responsibility.”

COAST TO COAST The Collaborative Actions for Sustainable Tourism (COAST) project is part of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded program SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INTERVIEW: GHANA TOURISM AUTHORITY

“WE WANT TOURISM TO BE SUSTAINABLE SO THAT GENERATION AFTER GENERATION WILL ENJOY AND CONTINUOUSLY ENJOY EVERYTHING THAT GHANA HAS AND IS OFFERING”

executed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), which aims to support and enhance the conservation of globally significant coastal and marine ecosystems and associated biodiversity in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana was involved in this program with other countries like Gambia and Nigeria.

The project analyzed the environmental needs required to develop ecotourism along the coast. “This project was very important for us as sustainable tourism because the problems that the COAST project addressed are still relevant today,” explains Mr. Doku.

“Water management at the estuaries, the lagoon sea defence, beach erosion habitat conservation. Tourism is the winner if these resources are managed sustainably. The project location was Ada Foah in the Greater Accra Region. The initiative was undertaken by the Ministry of Environment, Science, and Technology with the private sector, while GTA was actively involved to explore the tourism component.”

Heritage is another focus for GTA. In September 2018, in Washington D.C., Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo formally launched 2019 as the ‘Year of Return’, an initiative to encourage African-Americans and others in the African diaspora 4 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

to visit Ghana. 2019 was a symbolic year, commemorating 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia from Jamestown in Accra, and GTA led the new campaign. “It is a cultural symbol of spiritual fulfillment, and it is important to unite these Africans in the diaspora with their brothers in Ghana,” says Mr. Doku. “There were special programs lined throughout the year in Ghana to encouraged Africans in Diaspora to come back to the motherland, including ‘Jamestown to Jamestown’, Afrochella, and Afro Nation.

We are very proud of this campaign.”

KINTAMPO WATERFALL RECOVERY GTA intervened in the rebuilding after a disaster at Kintampo Waterfall in March 2017.

A dead tree broke into two, with the upper half crushing revelers at the falls, killing 19 people and injured 21 others. “It was a

national disaster that saddened all tourism lovers,” says Mr. Doku. “As the regulator, GTA was involved and the place was closed down for reconstruction with funding from Tourism Development Fund. During the closure GTA involved the Assembly, the traditional rulers, and the local people, creating awareness about farming practices that will prevent such a disaster. Another activity was to improve on the diversity of flora at the waterfall and around through a tree planting exercise in collaboration with the Forestry Commission. Then there was an introduction of public safety management and emergency preparedness and coordination systems at the fall side to manage such incidents in the future.”

“To maintain and sustain the project, GTA signed a memorandum of understanding ((MOU) with other partners, the District Assembly, and local authority chiefs who

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INTERVIEW: GHANA TOURISM AUTHORITY are landowners,” says Mr. Doku. “The MOU detailed roles, responsibilities, and revenue sharing from the project. A private investor came on board to partner and build a canopy walkway across the waterfall. The canopy walkway is added to a number of activities at the sites and increases how long tourist will stay at the site. Arrival figures at the site shows that the numbers are increasing.

This is good news for Kintampo Falls and Ghana’s tourism.”

“OUR PEOPLE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN OUR TOURISM PROMOTION. THE WARMTH OF THIS COUNTRY IS EXCEPTIONAL.”

TRAINING PROGRAMS Another behind-the-scenes role played by GTA is training. As a regulating body, GTA is keen to ensure that tourists, both international and domestic, receive high-quality service. “We are aware that training is key and customer satisfaction is very important,” says Mr. Doku. “GTA is involved in training of stakeholders in the industry.

Last year we launched a program to train tour guides. These are guides who inform, educate, and tell the Ghanaian story, and it is important we have a standard that guides them. In collaboration with the executives of Tour Guides Association of Ghana (TORGA), we trained about 385 tour guides nationwide, in the specific areas of tour guiding,

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customer service, culture, heritage, tour guide trade, communication, presentation, interpretation, security, and the travel trade regulations. Licensing is to follow. Our expectation is that tourists coming to Ghana will receive a standard tour guiding service that will make their experience memorable.”

“The informal sector is mainly local people that provide food and drink at our joints, streets, and other places other than formal places,” says Mr. Doku. “They play a major role in our tourism value chain and service delivery. There is nationwide training going on in the areas of food hygiene and safety, financial management, and customer service. As far as the tourism private sector is concerned, GTA is using training programs to make impact directly. Indirectly, the benefits of our marketing and promotion leads to increases in tourist arrivals and a higher occupancy rate for the private sector, and this can’t be taken for granted.”

HERITAGE AND THE FUTURE “Ghana is known for its culture and heritage,” says Mr. Doku. “Our people and history are the most important thing in our tourism promotion. The warmth of this country is exceptional. We do not boast of safaris, but we boast of our culture and heritage because we have a little bit of everything on tourism – eco, adventure, culture, leisure, and MICE. Ghana’s comparative advantage is warmth, hospitality, and unadulterated culture.”

GTA is confident of Ghana’s tourism industry. “The future is very bright as far as tourism is concerned,” says Mr. Doku. “We can tell our story from some of the tourism indicators. Arrivals in 2017 was 969,156 with corresponding receipt of $1,804.56m; although not a significant decrease to 956,172 in 2018 arrivals, the receipt was $2,589.85m, higher than in 2017. Tourist average expenditure was $1,862 in 2017 but increased to $2,708 in 2018, confirming tourist are spend-

ing more and this is good news. Our major markets continue to be America and Europe, and Nigeria is leading in Africa. The future therefore looks very good in terms of the current numbers and we are still counting.”

Domestic tourism is also growing.

“Arrivals at our tourist attractions are encouraging, with a significant increase of 23.9% from 2017 to 2018,” says Mr. Doku.

“Interestingly we realized that the number of Ghanaian visiting the sites continue to increase. Another good story for the domestic tourism is, with the growth of the Ghanaian middle class and increase in disposable income for leisure and entertainment, we expect domestic tourism to jump faster than we are experiencing now.”

“There is new Terminal 3 airport infrastructure, boosting international travel and

major improvement in number of domestic flights and airlines flying to Kumasi, Tamale Takoradi, and recently to Wa,” says Mr. Doku. “There are challenges with road transportation and the network, but the government is working on the construction of road projects. As a result, accessibility will improve, and tourism will benefit. We must alsoo mention the World Bank financial assistance of $40 million for the World Bank Tourism Development Project. The amount will be disbursed from July 2018 to September 2023. In the project, specific components were identified for intervention to improve on the sector’s performance at both the micro and macro levels. So for us at GTA, the sector’s prospects are very bright and we will count on the support and cooperation of all stakeholders. Thank you very much.” c

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Ghana Tourism Authority HEAD OFFICE P. O. BOX GP 3106, Accra, Ghana.

Tel: +233 302 682 601 Fax: +233 302 682 510 www.ghana.travel

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