Is the General Public Ready for Ghana?s Tourism Vision

The opportunities to be explored and exploited have been clearly numbered in my article on 12/04/2006. However, there are few more to add on to the previous. I have a challenge for all the Chiefs in Ghana, entrepreneurs, and also the ordinary person in Ghana.

 The building of Coliseum would be necessary if we want the whole world to know how powerful Ghana once was. This would capture the re-acting of the Yaa Asantewa, a leader of resistance in the 1896 Wars, Wars between the pre - colonial rules 1200-1900, the colonial rule and other wars that occurred. What happen in Ghana, which prompted the British to send, The distinguish King, Sir Agyeman Prempeh 1 to the Seychelles? Let us involve the British actors and the people of Seychelles thus making it a global affair. This period needs to be relived.

 This is a wealth of history to share with the world. Ghana is indeed a powerful nation and must remain so as a legacy left behind by our forefathers. Currently we are selling ourselves short and our youths are not helping too. What marketing strategies are flowing through people minds please share them via the Internet and if you can?t implement others could? These are huge magnitude of opportunities for everyone to explore to their advantage not a minority.

 These events could be turned into a Ghanahood movie or film not only to benefit our nation but the entire wide world to see the real beauty triumph and tribulations and the victory of our nation.

 The Exodus of the Ewes from Benin etc and others significant wars and trials we have faced in the past. Well, through our resilience have risen above it and other countries may need to learn this lesson from us.

 Some aspects of our history may be painful and would be hard to take on board but that was the reality in those days. We need to walk the tourists into our dark history and turn this into our own advantage, there helping to generate employment and economic growth.

 Currently the Chiefs kinsmen?s know these histories but are under valued and earn less money. They need to earn good money and become respectable members of our communities.

 Coliseum does not require roofing just the structure. The Minister for Tourism or Chiefs or District Commissioners may need to visit or get some into the country that could help to construct these structures.

 A Coliseum could sit more than 1000 people. They seat are made from concrete so would with stand the weather no storage required. It would be built in such a way to have storage underneath it. If we charge each person $20 and the show last for one and half-hours.

 Clearly, the chiefs, the paid workers, and the actors from overseas, the tourist and our nation would all benefit from such a reliving of history.

 Such scenes could be staged at one and half hours interval and giving the actors an hour break for each show to prepare. The Ghanaian youths are hungry for challenges and this could fulfil that hunger while they earn good incomes too in the process. The shows could be staged every day accept Sunday perhaps.

 There need to be a total ban on the use of our coastal areas as toilets by locals. The public should be empowered to challenge anyone who disobeys and instead communities should enforce their District Commissioners to build them public toilets.

 Beaches are cash cows in many countries. Tourists would pay so much money if the locals invest in their benches maintaining the beaches, keeping them clean and tidy, renting summer huts called Xmas huts for four hourly rentals, bikes for hiring, and summer huts to sell drinks and refreshments.

 Therefore coastal lands should be seen as potential areas not toilets. Huge sums of money are exchanged for development. Casino could also be built cinemas, nightclubs etc.

 Let us reflect on how America built Las Vegas out of nothing and currently, Las Vegas is the place to visit. Wow!

 Hawkers should be banned from all tourists? areas and a boundary needs to be set for them to hover so that the tourists come to them instead. They frighten the tourists who just want to relax and enjoy themselves a little before deciding on what they need to buy. The hawkers? hard sell attitude rather puts the tourist and others off completely. Thailand has adopted this system and it has paid off. Tourist industry has soured for them. It might be worth our Minister for Tourism to visit this country too. They started from nothing linking up with their Minister for Tourism might be of help.

 It would be worth The Minister of Tourism to meet up with District Commissioners in every region and set them challenges to compete with each other about innovative approach to get the tourists in their region. The Minister also needs to reward the regions with most innovative ideas and income generating revenues for the community and the whole nation.

 The Minister for Tourism may need to develop a good rapport with Ghanaians in Diaspora who have key positions in the country they are residing should volunteer to share their knowledge and skills with the Minister for Tourism. Visiting foreign countries alone could not give the feel of things. It is when lives among people 24/7 that one would know what make them tick.

 Every region may need to have a museum to show off the history of their Region in the hey days and the current age. They may generate some income in the process through charging the general public who visits their museum. Please everyone dig up old photos of important people within a community and the ordinary people that have made a difference within a given community and acknowledge their contributions in the museum. The World is seeing Ghana and the rest of Africa as a poor country currently.

 Ghanaians must remember that people in the West once came to Ghana because they saw that grass was greener in Africa those days than their world.

 Every region must have a library for their youth. This area however may be linked with the Minister of education objectives and must be followed up to make this materialised not just lip service library but an operational one.

 Selling foods on the roadside should be discouraged and instead the community need to club together to form a co-operative food shop owned by the community.

 Every Ghanaian in Diaspora, please do visit your local museum in the country you are in and try and send some message to your home town or village to develop something along those lines. Also try and visit libraries, garden centre, pottery shops, art and crafts shops, State building and see what one could emulate into ones? little community back home. Enjoy the environment as we are the eyes for our people not the Ghana Government.

 Share ideas via the Internet but we need to be polite and diplomatic instead of insulting our Government. Partnership working with the Government to give Ghana?s its true identity is what we all need to focus on. The Government needs everyone to market Ghana to its former glory.

 Bed and breakfast means all the tourists needs is a place to sleep with clean bed spreads and pillow and a simple breakfast with a cup a of tea. Or rice water with freshly baked bread, pouched eggs or boiled eggs would be enough

 This bed and breakfast is known as (B&B) for short. People may need to put up signs for bed and breakfast but if there are tourists? information centres in town or villages. The list of those participating could be kept there to rule out thieves who may pose as tourist to rob people at night.

 Please people should not feel that without water closet facilities they could not participate in this unique opportunity. People in the villages should embrace and turn a room or two within their home as B&B so that they could earn money from tourist travelling in their areas. The tourist checks in at 2pm and leaves at 12 noon. There would be no more poverty in our villages.

 The only meal to provide is breakfast. People could charge from $2 ? $10 a night per person. The posh a place the higher the price. Realistically, if a place is a self contained with nice gardens etc $10, facilities with KIVP and open bathrooms $2-5 a night per person.

 Those with KIVP toilets and even ordinary bathrooms with not roofs should also embrace this opportunity. So long as the bathrooms are clean and have a door or a sort. The tourists might only spent a night or two and then move on. People in Avieyme, Battor etc should all endeavour to exploit this opportunity. When tourists go to in the village without any hotel that B&B become more essential.

 The opportunity is for everyone to embrace not the rich. Those who have the means to read this article please do spread the word. Ideally it would be best practice to have a tourist information centre in every town so that booking for B&B could be through there. This would ensure some form of security and the tourists would be safe from those who might think otherwise and rob the tourists. There are some callous people among who would try and destroy the beauty of B&B facilities.

 KVIP is widely used in Sweden and Norway countryside so people should not shy away that they don?t have water closet for the tourists. There is no excuse for anyway. The home should be clean from filth and good sanitation. By this one means all the rubbish need to burnt or cleared, and a general tidiness of the house. Encourage the tourists to buy their own drinking water to be on the safe side.

 In Ghana we spend so much money on the dead yet we don?t even bother to have momentum for them. For example benches in the memory of a loved one, build bus stops in their memory in a local town or village with the deceased person name on the fascias, build schools for our villages in the memory of wealthy relatives. As Ghanaians, would it be true to say that we are a nation doesn?t know how to cherish the memory of our loved ones to life on generations.

 I?m sure many Ghanaians did fight in the first and second world wars in Burma etc. Does our Government have a Memory Cenotaph for the fallen souls who died during these great wars? This would enhance the image of the Government in bringing people together and the public to also participate with the Western allies in the November to celebrate Remembrance Day for their contributions to the developed world. Would it be about time that our nation publicly acknowledges such significant contributions to the world peace perhaps.

 Does some of our old folks have a recognised medals that we could show off during these periods of celebrations? Why are Ghanaians missing out on the memories of these who have made Ghana proud and contributed towards the world peace.

 Does all coastal areas have a lifeguard to warn people off the dangerous spots and a rescue facilities with first aid training skills for our would be to tourist who mi9ght wander a little further to test our waters and Seas.

 First aid and the resuscitation courses must be a vital for everyone. The public need to be educated about the management of Anaphylaxis shock to act prompt when need arises as the tourists might be allergic to different types of our plants and animals etc.

 All these areas may need to be fully addressed before and finally Ghana may need to have an independent body from a developed country who also started gradually and blossomed to help the Minister along putting in place strategies that would stand the tourism industry for the next 20 years.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.