By Hafsa Obeng
Accra, Sept. 23, GNA – Ghana has enormous tourism assets but must move beyond merely identifying attractions to developing them into accessible, bookable and marketable tourism products, Princess Umul Hatiyya Ibrahim Mahama, Founder of the PUH Foundation, has said.
She said while Ghana had numerous natural, cultural and heritage attractions, many had not been developed into complete tourism experiences capable of attracting visitors, encouraging longer stays and generating greater economic benefits for local communities.
“We have a lot of tourism assets, but we do not have tourism products,” Princess Umul Hatiyya said when she met Madam Abla Dzifa Gomashie, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, after completing a 90-day journey across Ghana on a Tuk Tuk, popularly known as a Pragya.
The journey, which covered approximately 6,814.6 kilometres, took her through all 16 regions, where she visited 35 tourist sites, eight markets and engaged 10 traditional authorities, including the Yagbonwura, Overlord of the Gonja Kingdom; NaYiri, Overlord of the Mamprugu Kingdom; Wa Naa; Dalun Lana of Dalun; Yo Naa of Savelugu; and Kumbung Naa of Kumbungu.
She also interacted with regional tourism officials, fishermen, community members and others whose livelihoods were connected to Ghana’s rivers, lakes and dams.
Princess Umul Hatiyya, who has visited 90 countries across five continents, said the expedition provided her with first hand insights into the opportunities and challenges confronting Ghana’s tourism industry.
She said a tourism attraction alone did not constitute a tourism product, explaining that a complete product should be accessible, easy to find and understand, offer a meaningful experience and, increasingly, be available for online booking.
“My own experience on the road exposed some of the gaps,” she said, noting that finding affordable accommodation online was not always easy.
“In several instances, after travelling for hours, the team still had to physically search for somewhere to stay. It was an inconvenience,” she said.
“If a visitor cannot easily find where to sleep, how to get there, what to do, how much it costs or how to book it, we have not finished developing the tourism product,” Princess Umul Hatiyya added.
She cited Cambodia as an example of a destination that had developed a more visitor-friendly tourism ecosystem around its attractions, supported by accommodation options, accessible tourism information, transport services and digital booking systems.
Princess Umul Hatiyya called for the development of tourism experiences targeting different categories of travellers, including luxury tourists and budget-conscious visitors seeking hostels, guesthouses, affordable hotels and camping facilities.
She also advocated greater digitalisation of tourism services, including information, reservations and payments, saying such systems would not only improve visitor convenience but also provide tourism authorities with better data on visitor numbers, spending and revenue.
She said Ghana needed to deliberately develop tourism experiences across the country rather than concentrating visitors around a handful of established destinations.
“We need to give people more reasons to come back,” stressing the need to create compelling experiences that would encourage visitors to travel further, stay longer, spend more and return.
Madam Gomashie acknowledged Ghana’s significant tourism assets, particularly in culture, heritage, creative arts and food, but pointed to challenges relating to service quality, infrastructure, investment, staffing, capacity and affordability.
She said Ghana might not be able to compete with every destination on the same tourism experiences but could compete by improving the quality of service provided to visitors.
The Minister said tourism is “private sector driven but government led,” saying that the government’s role was to create an enabling environment for investment while supporting critical tourism infrastructure, including roads leading to tourist sites.
She said efforts were underway, with the support of President John Dramani Mahama, to ensure that roads leading to tourist attractions were motorable and to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry and its agencies to deliver on their mandates.
Madam Gomashie also emphasised the importance of the visitor experience, saying a satisfied tourist could become an unofficial ambassador by returning, recommending the destination to others and contributing to economic opportunities for local communities.
She welcomed Princess Umul Hatiyya observations, saying first hand experiences such as the Tuk Tuk expedition could provide valuable insight into the practical realities encountered by visitors across the country.
Following the 90-day journey, Princess Umul Hatiyya is turning the expedition into a documentary capturing the people, places, challenges, hidden tourism treasures and untold stories she encountered along the way.
PUH Foundation, is an educational and humanitarian non-profit charity-based Foundation in Ghana which focuses on “building a first-class Africa, one classroom at a time.”
The Foundation’s core operations and initiatives include constructing educational facilities, providing learning materials, supporting special education schools, and promoting tourism and advocacy.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Hafsa Obeng