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)