Philip Tengzu
Wa, (UW/R), Oct. 8, GNA – The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has held a sensitization workshop for actors in the sector in the Upper West Region on the new Tourism (Tourist Sites) Regulations, which was passed into law by Parliament in 2019.
The workshop was part of efforts of the GTA to hold wider stakeholder engagement on the new regulations to let the actors know the requirements of the regulations and to seek their inputs and concerns on it for redress.
It was under the World Bank-funded Ghana Tourism Development Project (GTDP) being implemented by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) through its implementing agencies, including the GTA.
Mr Zakaria Tanko Musah, the Communications Expert for the GTDP project, in a message on behalf of Nana Osafo Kantaka, the Project Coordinator, in Wa during the workshop, noted that the new LI sought to standardise tourism sites operation in Ghana towards promoting the development of tourism in the country.
“All over the world, tourism is competing with the traditional sources of generating income for the countries, and those sources now, for instance, cocoa, gold, and others, are being challenged in a way that is very drastic and we could diversify and make money from other sources and one of those areas is tourism, arts, and culture”, he explained.
Mr Musah said the tourism sector employed many Ghanaians hence the need for adequate investment in that sector and that any amount of investment without the necessary regulations would not yield the needed results.
He said the LI was to put in place a mechanism that would regulate the industry to ensure its operations met the required standard and to help industry players to improve their services to clients and in turn generate income.
Mr Gameli Dzordzorme, the GTA project Focal Person, said GTA was in the process of implementing the LI but saw the need to do intensive stakeholder engagement.
He said the engagement across the country was to enable the sector players to understand the regulations to ensure standard service provision at the tourist sites.
“The essence of the site regulation is to produce minimum standards such that for example when you go to a site around the country you should enjoy basic things like good washroom facilities, safety, security and so on”, Mr Dzordzorme said.
He also advised the operators of the tourist sites to strive to exceed the client’s expectations to ensure value for money, saying, “Once the person is satisfied he is likely to return and that is even where the business is.”
Mr Moses Ndewin Ndebugri, the Upper West Regional Director, GTA, observed that the LI would help in the development of tourism in the region as the provisions would improve service delivery at the tourist sites and encourage increased visitation.
“It will boost the confidence of the tourists because the legislation would ensure some minimum standards at the sites.
This LI is going to help the sites to reposition themselves for the market that is emerging from the domestic tourism that we are all talking about”, he added.
The participants expressed the hope that the LI would help boost their activities and that they were ready to support any move by the MOTAC and the GTA in enhancing their businesses.
Mr Abdul-Aziz Pelpuo, a Tour Guide in Wa, said the introduction of the LI was laudable as it would help attract more tourists to the region, which in turn boost their businesses as tour guides.
Representatives of the Hotels Association, Tour Guides Association, traditional caterers, tourist site managers, comprising traditional authorities, and the Forestry Commission, among others, attended the workshop.
GNA