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 GHANA TOURIST BOARD
Interview with
Mrs. Doreen Owusu Fianko,
the Chief Executive
June 21st 1999
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Tourism is amongst the World’s toughest industries. How is the Ghana Tourist Board ensuring it remains strong in this Industry?
We have a 15-Year Tourism Development Plan which seeks to develop the projected needs of the industry in a sustainable manner for both present and future use. This will ensure that the destination meets the challenges of this dynamic industry and stay focus in providing quality tourism for the special interest market. We envisage our growth will be systematic in order not to outstrip our management capabilities.
For example, our primary responsibility for the service providers such as receptive facilities like hotel accommodation, restaurants, car-hire service, ground-handlers and other entertainment facilities is to ensure that their standards are of international repute and can meet the demands of our clientele. Our responsibilities for marketing and promoting Ghana’s Tourism Industry including increased use of Information Technology both for the domestic and international market would also be stepped up to ensure that our image is enhanced to capture a fair share of the market.
What are the main Tourist Destinations in Ghana at the moment and what other sites are you hoping to develop?
The whole country generally cover a wide-range of cultural heritage and natural endowment sites and these include our World Heritage Monuments of Cape Coast and Elmina Castles, the arts, traditional festivals, craft villages of every region especially Ashanti and Central regions.
Indeed major cultural events such as the recent funeral of the King of Ashanti, the late Opoku Ware and the coronation of the new Ashanti Chief Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II, are major cultural heritage attractions.
The Kakum National Park with its one of a kind 'Canopy Walkway' the only one in Africa and one of the only four in the whole world, is a major attraction that has recently been awarded by British Airways with the "Global Tourism Award For Tomorrow".
The National Parks and Eco-Tourism sanctuaries of birds, primates and butterflies in the Volta, Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions as well as the Volta Lake, waterfalls and beaches are also being developed to boost the industry.
We have just recently attended a Consultative Conference on the development of a major potential attraction site, that is the Lake Bosomtwe Basin. This meteorite Lake is the only natural lake in the whole of West Africa and its formation and scientific information are being investigated for development into a Natural Museum and Eco-Tourism Park to attract special interest international visitors.
The Eco-Tourism destination Award?
Yes, the Eco-Tourism Destination award, that’s right. Indeed the attraction has also won the African Travel Association award for "Responsible Tourism in Africa".
With regards to the type of tourism that you want to attract, are you focusing more on the Eco-tourism or are you trying to diversify into different types of tourism?
Our focus is on special Interest Tourism since we are endowed with both cultural and natural heritage and have a competitive edge over other destinations. However, our potential attractions such as beach and lake fronts provide opportunities for leisure tourism.
Conference tourism as an aspect of Business Tourism is currently one of the leading types of tourism which we intend to increase in future. This is because of the peace and stability that we enjoy in the sub-region. We also intend to encourage pre-and-post conference tours to increase the length of stay of our visitors.
What programs have been instituted to promote the country as a tourist destination?
First of all, a 15-Year Tourism Development Master Plan has been developed to guide the development of our tourists product, improvement of attraction sites, development of infrastructure, facilities and services.
We have identified travel writers in the core target market to come on familiarization trips to promote the destination. Tour operators, travel agents, incentive travel and conference organizers have been contacted to promote our product. We are developing promotional materials and websites to provide information on the destination. We also attend international tourism fairs to meet trade visitors. We have also developed special cultural events such as PANAFEST, Emancipation Day Celebration during the peak seasons to provide a diversity of entertainment and cultural experience for tourists.
Our target is to strengthen our presence in our traditional markets and introduce our lesser known products such as eco-tourism to other generating markets to reach over one million arrivals by year 2010.
The most important factor probably for attracting tourism into the country is the level of safety of that country, is Ghana a safe place for promotion of tourism.
Very Safe. It is one of our strengths now, in comparison with our competitors like Southern Africa and East Africa and even developed destinations such as Florida. Our safety and security as a destination is commendable. Even though our attractions may not be as developed as those in our competitor destinations, peace, safety, security and stability has guaranteed the persistent inflow of tourists in the past. We, however, do not take this conducive environment for granted and have put in place measures to maintain this peace and improve on health and personal risk safety and security in future.
International conferences, such as the African African-American Summit, which was held here in Accra just about a month ago, helped put Ghana in a spot light in areas such as tourism as well as business. How prepared is the industry to accommodate tourists which we hope come back to the country after a conference such as this.
I must say that before the conference, we were all a bit scared as to whether we would be able to handle the thousands that were coming in, even though we had a few plans in mind but it couldn’t materialize before then. We were still not very sure, but we were really surprised that we were able to accommodate about 4000 people in Accra with good facilities.
As far as transportation is concerned, one of our problems was ground transportation, but we didn’t know that the private sector had mobilized so much transport into the country within that short period. I think now we can confidently say that we can take in some thousands.
| With regards to accommodation, what is the number of hotel rooms in Accra at the moment and what is the plan for increasing the number of hotel rooms?
We currently have about 12,000 rooms. By the end of year 2000, the five star La Palm Royal deluxe hotel offering about 250 rooms would be completed. By the year 2001 if all goes well, we should have an additional 2 or 3 five star hotels giving us accommodation of more than 1200 rooms. We are expecting International hotel claims such as Inter-continental, Sheraton, Protea and Holiday Inn to come on board. By the year 2001 we should boast of a total of 4 to 5 star accommodation of over nearly 3000 rooms across the country.
Tourism at the moment is the third largest export earner after gold and cocoa, what are the factors that have contributed to this success story?
Apart from the fact that world prices are going down for gold, cocoa, and timber, the phenomenal increase in arrivals also accounts for the sudden boom in Ghana's Tourism. In 1988 for instance we were just getting about 100,000 arrivals per annum but now in 1999 we had arrivals around 300,000. If we consider that the minimum average daily spending of every tourist is about $100 which can be increased to as high as a $1000 a day then definitely earnings would increase further. We need to do a lot more to encourage tourists to spend more.
Now they are even complaining that there is not much to spend on when they come so we need to intensify our efforts in that area to make them do a lot more shopping and maybe drink more Ghanaian beer.
0 So in your view what will the Ghanaian tourist industry look like in the future?
0 It is quiet promising, I must even add that surprisingly enough domestic tourism is coming up as well and would serve as a good basis for developing international tourism. Ghanaians didn’t know what the country had to offer but a few promotional programs that we are undertaking on the television now, exposing the country is tourists sites to Ghanaians, has suddenly gingered interest. Just recently a friend was saying that she always had a problem of sending her kids to London on vacation. They were always pressurizing her until they started watching a program on television called ‘Sincerely Yours’ which exposes the tourists attraction in the country. They showed a beach resort in the western region i.e. Busua Beach Resort with all those water sports equipment which they did not know was available in Ghana. Now, they do not want to go to London, they want to go to that facility in the western region for their vacation. This alone tells you how Ghanaians now are also going to participate in the tourism industry.
1 So you are not just working on the international tourism industry?
1 No, locally too, because the potential is also here. The money which Ghanaians can afford to spend outside on vacation can be spent here but they didn’t know that the facilities were available. Now every Ghanaian wants to go to Kakum National Park and to go on the canopy walkway. Even if you look at the statistics on people going on the walkway, I think about 60% are Ghanaians.
2 How do you foresee the future?
2 A bright future and the domestic market is always your biggest guarantee if we can really develop it. Investors would then be confident to expand the facilities and services required in the industry.
3 In the sense of the market share that you have in the whole economy at the moment, tourism is the second biggest export earner?
3 It is the third, but I think it is moving to the second.
4 On a more personal note, could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
4 I was formally in the National Airline, Ghana Airways. I worked there for about 20 years, rising to be Director of Corporate Planning. I was then seconded to the Ministry of Tourism in 1993 when the Ministry was newly established. I was therefore one of the pioneer staff of the Ministry. International tourism and Special Projects was my schedule. We also worked on the 15- Year Development Plan. Early last year I was transferred to the Ghana Tourist Board as the Chief Executive.
5 Since you’ve been at the head of the Ghana Tourist Board, what would you say has been your greatest achievement?
5 I must say Marketing and Promotion which has brought us a lot more exposure. Apart from few internal re-structuring and re-organization that we need to do, I think I have been able to sensitize a lot more other sectors to be interested in tourism.
For example the Ghana Civil Aviation, and the National Airline are now collaborating with us in promoting tourism. The District Assemblies are also taking an interest in developing tourist attraction sites in their respective localities.
6 As far as investments are concerned, where do you really need investors to come and invest in Ghana?
6 In accommodation, beach resorts, entertainment, like nightclubs, discotheques and casinos. We do not have much for children so Theme parks are areas we would want investors to look at. A lot of effort is being made to get investors in but it is not a one-day wonder.
It takes at least a year or two to be able to do that because you will have to be looking for land for the investors when they come in and the investors also take some time in mobilizing funds and resources. We have a few projects which have taken off recently.
7 As a final question, considering that Forbes magazine reaches 4 million readers, mostly in the United states, what would be your final message to them?
7 They are all welcome to Ghana. They should come to Ghana and invest in the tourism sector because it has a lot of potential with attractive incentives. The multiplier effect of the industry opens up other areas for more investments and increased returns. Ghana is safe and repatriation of profits is guaranteed for investors as enshrined in our constitution.
Holiday makers incentive travelers and conference organizers must look at Ghana as a new and exciting destination. Ghana Airways has a direct flight which takes you just about 10 hours from New York to our destination where hospitality and the warmth of the people are legendary.
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© World INvestment NEws, 1999.
This is the electronic edition of the special country report on Ghana published in Forbes
December 13th 1999 Issue.
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