Ghana’s Tourism Industry under Threat!

Tourism according to

Mathieson and Wall (1982:1) refers to “the temporary movement to destinations

outside the normal home and workplace, the activities under taken during the

stay and the activities created to cater for the needs of the tourists.” It

comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside

their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure,

business or other purposes (WTO, 1999). In 2010, receipts from the Tourism

industry amounted to over 1.6 billion dollars placing it as the fourth largest

foreign exchange earner to the country. It contributed over 6 percent to the

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009. However if serious attention is not given

to the planning, development, principles and ethics in the industry, the hen

that lays the golden eggs faces serious threat!

It is an undeniable

fact that the movement, the stay and the facilities which are created to meet

the needs of tourists have some environmental consequences for the tourist

destination. On the other hand, the quality of tourists’ experience depends to

a large extent on the environment in which tourism takes place. Both the

natural environment, including land, water, plants and animals and the man-made

environment, which includes superstructure and infrastructure, form the basis of

the tourism industry. Thus tourism thrives in an attractive environment.

It is against this

background that CODGHA is appalled at the wanton destruction and pollution

along our coasts, especially in Bortianor, Tsokome and Labadi. An investigation

by CODGHA to ascertain the environmental impacts of coastal resorts in the

country, has confirmed widespread destruction of the coastal ecosystem. Some of

the issues identified bordered on littering, discharge of sewage directly into

the sea, and the Densu Estuary, defecation at certain portions of the coastline

and dumping of waste in close proximity to the sea.

It was discovered that some

of the hotels discharged their sewage either directly into the sea or the Densu

Estuary. For instance, some resorts in Tsokome and Bortianor had their bath

rooms located right at the bank of the estuary where tourists could wash down

after bathing in the sea. This could have serious implication for aquatic life

in the estuary.Also, some of the locals tend to defecated at certain portions along

the coast

and some communities had their refuse dumps in close proximity to the sea

especially in the Bortianor community.

There were instances

where refuse produced by some hotels had been kept there for weeks suggesting

that some hotels did not constantly clean their surroundings’ on a daily basis.

The only high rise buildings in the communities were found out to be coastal

resorts, suggesting that, the design of hotel buildings are different in terms

of style, shape and architecture thereby constituting architectural pollution.

Our Recommendation:

Since the locals

themselves have some negative impacts on the environment, there is the need for

environmental awareness creation to sensitize the locals on the health and

economic implications of poor sanitation. There is also the need for government

to pay serious attention to the sanitation conditions of the country as current

world ranking in respect to sanitary conditions is likely to have some negative

implications for our tourism industry.

The environmental

protection agencies should strengthen and empower inspection teams in order to

ensure that, coastal resorts adhere strictly to the environmental laws of the

country as some of the hotels were operating without environmental permits.

Last but not least,

there should be collaboration among the stakeholders in the community towards

environmental improvement and sanitation. For example, the hotels could collaborate

with other stakeholders such as youth associations and District Assemblies to

periodically

clean the beaches and also serve as watch dogs which would put off some locals

from defecating at certain portions of the beach.

To this end, we are calling

on the Ghana Tourism Authority, Environmental Protection Agency and relevant District

Assemblies to collaborate with the appropriate stakeholders in finding a

lasting solution to the appalling filth and pollution that has engulfed our

beaches, as it is having serious negative impacts on the Tourism Industry.

Signed:

Dr. Ishmael Mensah

(Director of Research and Editorial Policy)

Agyei Kwame Williams

(Executive Director)