Ghana can be tourism hub in West Africa
World and African athletics legend, Haile Gebrselassie, says Ghana can take advantage of her peace and stability to strongly promote tourism.
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According to the much-travelled former world 10,000m champion, tourists are now more concerned about their safety and security and he believes Ghana has that attraction for tourists.
"Apart from the growing democracy, Ghana is a very peaceful and safe place. Most of the popular tourists destinations in Africa are gradually losing their appeal because of the terrorists threats, and particularly in the West African bub, Ghana has proven to be the most peaceful and I have no doubt that if the effort is made, more tourists could be attracted to this country," said Gebrselassie whose exploits in world long distance have made him not just a legend in the sport but also one of the continent’s rich sportsmen.
In an interview with the Graphic Showbiz last week, Gebrselassie said Ghana was already a marketable tourism destination, and urged those in charge to exploit the other attractions to package and market tourism in Ghana.
Gebrselassie was in Accra last week, as an ambassador for the international Millennium Marathon which attracted both foreign and local runners to its inaugural race last Saturday.
The Ethiopian said apart from the known tourists sites, Ghana could also explore the new trend, sports tourism, to enhance the tourism portfolio.
"Sports tourism is a booming business and events such as the Millennium Marathon attract many international participants so it could be well packaged so that it becomes more beneficial to both the hosts and the guests.
"When people travel, they want to also explore the cities they travel to. Ghana has many sites that are of interest to foreigners and these could be enhanced. So the athletes do not just arrive, compete and then return to their countries, but they are given a package that makes it possible for them to stay a day or two more for more sight seeing.
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“Also, Ghana is well known for her footballers, we could develop a football museum with all the important landmarks to serve as an interesting story-telling point for tourists. People would want to travel to Ghana to see how the likes of Abedi Pele, Asamoah Gyan and all those brilliant footballers are groomed.
“It has worked well in Ethiopia as people travel just to find out how the long distance runners are groomed and that has really helped our country’s tourism drive. I believe that can also work for Ghana if planned and executed in the right way," the man who has also managed to use his success in world athletics and his fortune to improve Addis Ababa's tourism sites, advised.