TOURISM IN GHANA

  A BRIEF BACKGROUND                


Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure, or business purposes. It is also the temporary short term movement of people to destinations outside the place where they live. Tourism does not necesarrily mean travelling to a particular place but also includes all activities undertaken during the stay. The World Tourism Organization (W.T.O) defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes". Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. Tourism is dynamic and competitive industries that require the ability to constantly adapt to customers changing needs, wants, and desires as the customers’ satisfaction, safety and enjoyment are particularly the focus of tourism businesses. 

                                                 
 Tourism is important, and in some cases, vital for many countries. It was recognized in the Manila Declaration on World Tourism of 1980 as "an activity essential to the life of nations because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational, and economic sectors of national societies and on their international relations." Tourism brings in large amounts of income in payment for goods and services available. It also creates opportunities for employment in the service sector of the economy, associated with tourism. Tourism is a service industry. These service industries include transportation services, such as airlines, cruise ships and hospitality services, such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts; and entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, casinos and theatres.

It can be domestic, inbound or outbound. Inbound tourism refers to non residents travelling into the county. Outbound tourism refers to residents traveling to another country, while Domestic tourism refers to residents of the given country traveling only within his/her country. There are several categories of tourism but I am more concerned with Cultural tourism, Eco-tourism and Leisure tourism.

Leisure is time that is spent doing what you enjoy when you are not working or studying. Leisure tourism includes a holiday with leisure activities such as relaxation, reading, walking on the beach, taking a scenic drive, swimming, visiting places of interest and local attractions, and visiting friends and families and so on. An example is the beach along the coasts of Ghana.

Cultural tourism sometimes referred to as heritage tourism is division of tourism concerned with regions cultures specifically the lifestyle and history of the people; their art, architecture, religion and other elements. Cultural tourism includes festivals, museums, theatres and others. This is one of the most popular types of tourism and it attracts large number of tourists from different parts of the world.

Eco-tourism is a responsible travel to natural (unspoilt) areas that conserves the environment and improves the well being of the people. The purpose of eco-tourism is to educate the traveler about natural destinations, provide ecological conservation and awareness to benefit economic development, the political empowerment of local communities and respecter for the local culture. Here, the individual can now experience the natural way of life surrounded by natural circumstances. Example is the Kakum National Park