Host communities and the white elephant tourists’ sites

By Samuel Kwasi Obeng.

obengsamuelkwasi@gmail.com

The import-led Ghanaian economy, which was a major characteristic of the Gold coast economy during the colonial era, has not changed despite some interventions by various governments since independence to make it an export-led. Even though some progress has been made over the years, the Balance of Trade still remains very unfavourable.

The colonial economy, which was basically into the exportation of raw-materials to feed British industries and the importation of relatively expensive finished products to feed the Gold Coast economy, is what largely prevails in Ghana @ 58, with a large chunk of our raw gold, cocoa, timber and now crude oil leading our major exports.

This bequeathed but undesirable colonial heritage, which ace politician, Nana Akuffo-Addo described as the ‘Guggisberg Economy’ will probably win the Ghanaian government a booby prize if an award scheme is designed to award Commonwealth governments in the area of economic transformation.

It is obvious that the economic transformation assignment has proven to be a humongous one for the Ghanaian government, even though its class mate and junior Malaysia and Singapore have aced it. Once our government continues to pay lip services to this all important assignment, the various sectors of the economy including the tourism sector will remain under-developed despite its huge potential.

Currently the fourth foreign exchange earner for the country, the tourism sector has gotten its share of the cold, a type called Tourism Leakage, primarily because of the sneeze from the ‘Guggisberg Economy’.

According to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the term Tourism Leakage is the total amount of tourists’ expenditure that directly remains in the host community (community with the tourist site which host tourists) after subtracting profit, taxes, wages or salaries and expenditure on imports which are paid outside the host community. The Programme also estimates that out of every $100.00 spent by tourists from developed countries on vacation tour only $5.00 remains in developing country’s destination economy.

Where does the 95 per cent of tourists’ expenditure go?

Well, the statistics by the UNEP might be described as a broad-brush claim but the deplorable nature of most of the host communities is an evidence of its reality in Ghana. The socio-politico economic environment of most of these communities only permits tourists to come and pay peanuts to view the attractive sites and leave. Sometimes not even a dime is spent directly on the economy because the whole of the community is below the standard of tourists - no hospitality/catering facilities, the social amenities if they exist are far below standard, no vibrant economic activity among others. This has robbed host communities of the collateral benefits that come with hosting tourists in their communities in spite of the fact that some tourists travel into the country because of the attractive sites in these host communities.

It must be pointed out that although some of the host communities with lesser known tourists’ sites cannot boast of modern social amenities, some business-minded people are cashing in on some popular tourist sites in the country by establishing hospitality/catering facilities among other facilities nearby. However, the operations of these facilities do not benefit host communities in any significant way, in terms of profits and services. The daily consumables and products on sale of these hospitality/catering facilities are purchased outside their host communities and sold at exorbitant prices, just like what used to happen in the colonial era. Even most of their staffs are not indigenes.

The services of these hospitality/catering facilities are thus far beyond what the purchasing power of the indigenes can meet. I had the privilege to attend a cocktail at one of the newly established hotels around airport in Accra. In the process of interacting among ourselves i ended up asking the manageress of the hotel why their rates are exorbitant. She told me it’s because they import most of the things they use in the hotel. I couldn’t probe further because her response was quite enough for me to be on the same page with her and I wasn’t surprised when I got to know that their biggest customers are expatriates. This is a common phenomenon, especially, in most of the star-rated hotels in the country.

If Accra with all its modern social amenities and vibrant economic environment is experiencing this magnitude of Leakage due to the massive importation of products to meet the demands of tourists, then the least said about these deplorable host communities, the better.

This type of Leakage is called Import Leakage; part of the expenditures of tourists which are supposed to benefit the host communities in terms of the purchase of consumables and other products rather go to benefit other communities, most of which are in other countries.

Another associated term is Export Leakage. Most of these hospitality/catering facilities are not owned by the indigenes and their headquarters are outside the host communities. Profits are therefore remitted to their headquarters to the detriment of the host communities. This occurrence of remission is what is described as Export Leakage.

The Import and Export Leakages in the tourism sector are directly traceable to the ‘Guggisberg Economy’ and they are a symptom of government failure, over the years, in the area of economic transformation. However, players in the tourism industry must take the destiny of the industry into their own hands. Measures must therefore be put in place to ameliorate the rate of the Leakage and reduce its impact on host communities.

Since Tourism Leakage is a threat to sustainable tourism development, which is the major theme in the vision statement of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts (MoTCCA), the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Ghana Tourism Development Company (GTDC) and the newly established Tourism Fund Secretariat must lead the stakeholder campaign in ensuring that host communities are not shortchanged of the blessings of their birthright through Tourism Leakage.

Also, a public-private partnership can be struck between the GTDC or any other appropriate agency and the hospitality/catering facilities to use part of their profits to develop the economic capacities of their host communities to produce to meet the needs of these facilities and tourists. This will create a win-win situation between these facilities and their host communities in terms of lower cost of production with its concomitant effect of lower rates charged on services and a vibrant local economy. This will also have a seminal effect, a positive one, on the domestic tourism campaign being championed by the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare.

Moreover, the establishment of an all-inclusive facility; a facility which consist of all the things/packages tourists would need on their tour, by expatriates especially, running all departments of the facility must not be allowed in host communities. Host communities must be resourced by the Tourism Fund Secretariat or any other appropriate agency to participate and benefit from the thriving tourism market created by their own natural heritage.

In other words, a single facility, owned by foreigners especially, must not be allowed to control the tourism market lock, stock and barrel. A portion of the market must be preserved for the indigenes. Areas like tour guide, chauffeur, the sale of local cuisines among others should be left to the indigenes. A local content policy can also be developed to impel these facilities to employ a good percentage of the indigenes.

My last word goes to all patriotic Ghanaians; if you visit any tourist site in the country, please buy any indigenous product from the host community, it could be consumables or durable goods. These little drops of cedis can make a more than a billion economy.