When tourism doesn’t get a mention
This year’s State of the Nation Address was delivered at Parliament House last week and as usual, the expected opposing verdicts are out there. What everyone agreed with, however, is that it was the longest of such addresses. And guess what, tourism was not on the menu.
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On the other hand, one need not be too surprised. And here is one reason. When last year Ghana’s fiscal issues came to a crunch and the nation’s top brains converged at Senchi, tourism didn’t feature much on the much-trumpeted solutions. The crisis at the time was such that it was so hard to lay hands on foreign exchange and the nation was at its wits end.
Around the same time, meanwhile, this is what South Africa did. (Don’t forget they were also feeling a pinch of the global downturn.) They lowered tariffs on all components of their tourism sector and then went on a tourism marketing blitz.
Suddenly it had become very cheap to visit South Africa for a holiday or a weekend. And so in markets around the world people noticed that it was the best time to visit SA.
A good number of folks responded, some even re-adjusting their own schedules. From Australia, from the US, from Scandinavia from Europe; headed to that country. And what were these tourists bringing along. Vital forex cash!
As a nation, we seem not to have determined where we want to place tourism within our scheme of development. Is it a leisure activity? Is it a business? Or is it a developmental appendage? Maybe if this was determined and executed, it would help create the proper locus for this rather important sector.
In the mid 1980’s, before this nation was lifted off from its economic doldrums, tourism played a key part. There was the Investment Code. There was a massive export drive that focused on non-traditional goods. Those brought in hard foreign exchange. Oh, remember Inter-Tourism ‘86?
I remember the 15 year Tourism Development Plan. All regions had their development commissions which highlighted a project or two in tourism. That was the time Hon. Kojo Yankah was in charge of Central Region and CEDECOM made waves with some of its initiatives resulting in the creation of Kakum Park near Cape Coast.
This movement transformed the hospitality face of the country. Shangri La, Novotel, La Beach Hotel, all came up as a matter of course. NGOs and some other diplomatic interests joined the tourism agenda. Was that our golden era? What has happened?
The State of the Nation address is mandated by Article 67 of the country's Constitution for the President to state where our country stands on economic, social, and financial topics.
Though in the past the tourism mention has been a little more than ‘passengerial’ it has never been known to have been completely removed. And in a country where the media would not make matters such as tourism a political manifesto agenda, we better speak now or it may remain forever forgotten.
So who do you blame when something such as this has happened? Is it the President; for not being considerate enough?
The Ministry of Tourism; for not being influential enough? The sector agencies; for not being productive enough? The private sector; for not being forceful enough? Or the Presidential speech writers for not being thorough enough?
Let me take you on a little jolly ride. Find below excerpts of what was said about tourism in the last three State of the Nation addresses.
2013
Mr Speaker, our government is committed to using tourism as an instrument for the full realisation of the economic potential of our culture and creative arts. In this respect:
The newly aligned Ministry of
Tourism, Culture and the Creative Arts will facilitate the interface between government, implementing bodies in tourism, culture and the creative industries as well as international and civil society partners.
2014
Mr Speaker, The tourism and the creative sector are a major contributor to our economic growth. In 2013, the sector maintained its position as the fourth highest foreign exchange earner after Gold, Cocoa and remittances from Ghanaians abroad.
International arrivals and receipts grew by 10 per cent, rising from 903,300 in 2012 to 993,600 in 2013 resulting in an increase from US$ 1.7 Billion to US$1.9 and contributing 4.7 per cent to GDP.
2015
Mr Speaker, Tourism continues to be a major foreign exchange earner after gold, cocoa and foreign remittances. In 2014, a total of 319,000 direct and indirect jobs were created.
2016??So what really, really happened?
The writer is a Communication and Tourism Specialist. Books he has authored include ‘Romancing Ghanaland- the Beauty of Ten Regions’, Tickling the Ghanaian-Encounters with Contemporary Culture & ‘Harmattan- a Cultural Profile of Northern Ghana.’
kofiakpabli@yahoo.com
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