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| Attractive sites can win more tourists to Ghana |
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| Posted on: 2007-Jan-23 GNA |
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Many people from far and near visit such sites. There are many attractive sites in Ghana. Some are natural and some are artificial. Some of the natural attractive sites in Ghana are the Mampong Scarp, the Gambaga Scarp and the Afadjato Mountain.
Other natural attractive sites include water bodies such as the Boti Waterfalls, the Kintampo Waterfalls and the Lake Bosomtwe. There are also many historical forts and castles along the coast such as the seat of government, the Christiansborg Castle in Osu – Accra, the Elmina Castle at Elmina, the Cape Coast Castle at Cape Coast and the one at Shama, Fort Sabestian.
The Independence Square and the Independence Arc are also some of the artificial attractive sites in Ghana.
Most of the relief features are the highlands, the lowlands and the water bodies. They are also very important for tourism attractions. This is because they serve as objects of attraction to people who visit sites and scenes to enjoy their beauty.
Some of the physical features that attract tourists include beaches, lakes, waterfalls, highlands, lowlands and forests. Tourists visit such objects regularly. Tourism is very important to the country. It is the third largest foreign exchange earner. It is therefore a very important source of money or income to the nation. The government uses more of the money she gets from tourism to provide infrastructures such as schools, roads, hotels and hospitals. This has provided employment for the people who work in the hotels, hospitals, road constructions and building constructions.
Ghanaians must be kind, nice, honest and sincere to visitors. This will make them come back.
Ghanaians are friendly and hospitable. They receive strangers and foreigners warmly and treat them well.
It is a God’s given gift to human beings to be friendly and hospitable. It is also one of the requirements for human beings to be able to enter into the kingdom of God. So it is good to be friendly and hospitable. Friendliness and hospitability would therefore attract tourists to visit Ghana. This helps Ghana to get more income or foreign exchange.
Traditional rulers must help to promote tourism by making their festivals and land tenure system attractive to tourists and investors. There is the need for chiefs and people in the traditional areas to ensure that peace and unity prevail by settling chieftaincy disputes peacefully to attract tourists and investors. Tourism is a collaborative venture therefore, all stakeholders, including traditional rulers, district assemblies, developers and operators must support tourism promotions in the country.
To mention some of the cultural, historical and ecological endowments in the country, the government must drawn up plans to facilitate the development of such potential tourism attraction sites. The rising spate of road accidents in the country could scare off potential tourists to the country if the situation is not checked quickly by the government and other stakeholders in the road transport industry. The government must develop, promote tourism and the improvement of the capital city on sustainable basis in order to derive optimum socio-economic growth and positive environmental impact for the benefit of the deprived communities in particular and the country as a whole.
Ghana has an impressive tourism potential as a result of her record as the most peaceful country in the West African sub-region. Hotel and airline operators must meet to discuss the government’s tourism strategy and implementation of a plan to boost the sector. Tourism, which had become the fastest-growing sector of the economy, is a private sector activity.
The government should make the necessary inputs to ensure that Ghana provides the best in terms of services offered. The government must plan to mobilize the objective of putting up the necessary infrastructure in place to make Ghana a first choice tourism destination.
The plan is also geared towards the increase in the revenue generation for the government and the encouragement of good governance apart from its other object of developing the rural areas to create jobs and stem the rural-urban drift.
The tourism plan seeks to promote conservation, since Ghana has some of the finest beaches in the world heritage sites. Ghanaians should encourage tourists to visit Ghana. Tourism is picking up in Ghana. Tourists are now looking for an environment that is not polluted by human beings and Ghana can offer this.
The hospitality of Ghanaians is expressed in both words and deeds. The country boasts of some of the best tourist attractions in Africa. The slave castles of both the Elmina and Cape Coast, the Kakum National Park, the Volta lake and the Ashanti Region of Ghana, the land of gold, are but a few of the tourist attractions in the country. Ghana’s tourism development has become one of the government’s major priorities as attractive tourist sites such as the natural reserves, national parks, wild life sanctuaries and waterfalls, abound in the country.
Having therefore created the environment conducive for the promotion of tourism by putting in place the facilitative process, the challenge now is for the private sector to play its proper role. Tourism is relevant. Let us all resolve to show love, unity and the willingness to place Ghana prominently on the world tourism map. E-mail Address: opokulovelace@yahoo.co.uk
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