INTERNATIONAL TOURISM INVESTMENT FORUM (ITIF2010)

1. Theme: “Ghana – Time to Explore, the Role of the Investor in the Tourism Sector Date: 26th July – 1st August ,2010 Venue: Accra International Conference Centre Tourism Infrastructure Development By J.B. Lomo-Mainoo (Tourism Development Planner) International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure INTERNATIONAL TOURISM INVESTMENT FORUM (ITIF2010)

2. The long-term vision for Ghana is that by the year 2020, the country will have achieved a balanced economy and a middle-income country status and standard of living. • "This will be realized by creating an open and liberal market economy, founded on competition, initiative and creativity, that employs science and technology in deriving maximum productivity from the use of all our human and natural resources and in optimizing the rate of economic and social development, with due regard to the protection of the environment and to equity in the distribution of the benefits of development." International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure NATIONAL AND TOURISM POLICIES AND OBJECTIVES

3. International tourism should be expanded to bring socio-economic benefits to the country including generating income, employment, foreign exchange earnings and government revenues, serving as a catalyst to expansion of other economic sectors, and strengthening both the urban and rural economies. • International tourism should also be expanded to expose Ghana's unique cultural and environmental heritage to the world and increase mutual international understanding between Ghanaians and foreigners. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure NATIONAL AND TOURISM POLICIES AND OBJECTIVES

4. The organizational approach to developing and managing tourism should emphasize close coordination and cooperation being maintained among the various public agencies and boards involved in tourism and between the public and private sectors related to tourism. Organizational mechanisms must be implemented to achieve this coordination. • All tourist facilities and services should meet acceptable sanitation, safety, comfort and service standards and be environmentally compatible. • A variety of types and quality levels of facilities and services should be developed to satisfy the needs of the various different tourist market groups. Besides developing new facilities and services, emphasis should be given to improving and upgrading existing facilities and services where feasible. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure NATIONAL AND TOURISM POLICIES AND OBJECTIVES

5. Emphasis must be given to the implementation of tourism plans and development with suitable regulatory, financial and organizational techniques applied. • Equally important to emphasize are effective management of the tourism sector and continuous monitoring of the impacts of tourism development. • Mobilization of adequate public and private financial resources for developing tourism is essential. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure NATIONAL AND TOURISM POLICIES AND OBJECTIVES

6. Both international and domestic tourism should be expanded on a planned and controlled basis so that it brings benefits without generating any serious environmental or social problems or distortions in the economy. • Problems resulting from uncontrolled tourism in other destinations should be avoided in Ghana through application of the planned development approach. • Establishing carrying capacity standards should be considered an important aspect of infrastructure planning for sustainable tourism development. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure NATIONAL AND TOURISM POLICIES AND OBJECTIVES

7. Any major tourism development should be based on an integrated regional development approach that considers accessibility, availability of tourist attractions, facilities, services and infrastructure, and other relevant factors. • Development should take place in a prioritized, staged manner but with development and its benefits spread as widely as possible throughout the country. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure NATIONAL AND TOURISM POLICIES AND OBJECTIVES

8. Tourism Infrastructure fall into two categories: “Soft and Hard • Soft InfrastructureThis relates mainly to intellectual, managerial, administrative and technical support that the public and private tourism sectors provide on a variety of tourism initiatives that have been identified. • The focused objective is on maximizing tourist numbers into the Country’s destinations for the resultant tourism revenue yield, in accordance with the set goals and targets. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Categories of tourism infrastructure

9. The ‘soft infrastructure’ issues recommended below are a pre-requisite in bringing about sustainability for development issues. • Managing perceptions of personal safety (Air, Road, Water & Rail Travels, Use of Water, Electricity & Telecommunication Services and Site Visits • Market research of tourist source markets & their ‘needs’ for a comprehensive management of the ‘Supply Chain’ • Ease of access of designated tourism routes • Monitoring and evaluation of product development to prioritize models for each destination. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Categories of tourism infrastructure

10. Hard Infrastructure • Hard Infrastructure relates more to the physical built requirements that are necessary to facilitate ‘ease-of-access’ for tourists, as well as making it interesting and simpler for the tourists to remain in the country for longer periods. It refers to all forms of construction, mostly on or below ground level, required to support the effective functioning of tourism facilities and services. • Tour sites and circuits must be linked with high quality, reliable and exciting transportation modes and the destinations must provide high quality indoor and outdoor recreational facilities. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Categories of tourism infrastructure

11. Provision of adequate hard infrastructure is a prerequisite for developing tourism. • Lack of hard infrastructure precludes the development of tourism, and limited infrastructure is a serious constraint on tourism attaining its full development potential. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Categories of tourism infrastructure

12. Transportation facilities and services including air, land and water transportation providing access to and within the country. • Water supply sources and distribution. • Electric power generation and distribution. • Post and telecommunications. • Sewage and solid waste disposal. • Drainage systems in developed areas. • Fire protection facilities and services. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Basic infrastructure systems

13. Provision of these basic infrastructure systems is the responsibility of the government while on-site infrastructure is the responsibility of the site developer. • Currently in Ghana, under PNDC Law 207, greater responsibility for provision of urban infrastructure is allocated to the district assemblies. • The basic infrastructure systems are mostly multi-purpose serving general community as well as specific sector needs such as tourism. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Basic infrastructure systems

14. Developing tourism, however, often requires that infrastructure be developed to serve particular tourism development sites, and general-purpose infrastructure may need to be expanded and improved specifically to serve tourism development in an area. • Also, infrastructure development must be prioritized in consonance with the staging of tourism development. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Basic infrastructure systems

15. The Bortiano, Korobite and Langma Experience • The AdaFoah Misery • Aflao, Elubo and Paga entry points • The Accra and Kumasi Predicaments • The Mole National Park Intervention International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Basic infrastructure systems

16. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Tourism zones, centres & tourists excursion routes

17. Tourist excursion routes in Ghana are Roads, Railway, Air, Lake and River Transportation Routes that connect Tourism Zones, Tourism Centres and Tourist Stopovers and, where possible, provide scenic views. • These excursion routes are taken by tourists for sightseeing and to reach tourism centres and tourist stopovers. These routes provide an interesting travel experience and are potentially attractions in themselves. • The excursion roads for the development of tourism connect the tourism zones and centres and provide access to tourist stopovers. In many places, these roads offer scenic views and are attraction in themselves. • A basic principle is that roads should be multi-purpose and serve general transportation needs as well as tourism, but a few new roads will be needed for developing tourism, especially to provide access to attraction features and development sites. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Tourist Excursion Routes

18. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure The excursion roads • The excursion roads for the development of tourism connect the tourism zones and centres and provide access to tourist stopovers. In many places, these roads offer scenic views and are attractions in themselves. • A basic principle is that roads should be multi-purpose and serve general transportation needs as well as tourism, but a few new roads will be needed for developing tourism, especially to provide access to attraction features and development sites.

19. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Excursion Railway The existing railway network connecting Accra, Sekondi-Takoradi and Kumasi provides scenic views, access to interesting stopovers and major tourism centres and offers the inherent fascination of railway travel. • The railway owns several specially designed tourist cars which provide a comfortable ride and amenity features. However, rail travel for tourists has not been organized and promoted and the tourist cars have been seldom used.

20. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Excursion Railway • Advantage should be taken of this opportunity for developing tourist rail travel as an additional attraction for tourists. • The railway museum proposed for development in Sekondi-Takoradi would be an interesting and logical complement to promoting the railway for tourist excursions.

21. Lake Volta and sections of the Volta River offer the possibility for scenic boat cruises with stopovers at interesting places. • A tourist boat cruise with considerable capacity (Dodi Princess) is already available on weekends on Volta Lake from the Akosombo area to Dodi Island. Cargo boats with limited passenger facilities ply the full length of Volta Lake between Akosombo and Buipe. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Volta Lake and River Boat Cruises

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23. These existing cruises could be extended to include luxury cruises for longer trips, more stopovers and more frequent service for tourist use. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Volta Lake and River Boat Cruises

24. Air access -- Most international tourists arrive in Ghana by air but domestic air service is not yet much developed or used by tourists. • The major recommended improvements are: remodeling and expansion of Kotoka International airport to handle more traffic movements and passengers with increase of the frequency of international air flights as needed and provision of charter flights on a selective basis; • Expansion of the Kumasi Airport and establishment of West African regional flights to Kumasi. Expansion of the Tamale Airport to support tourism and the Savannah Development Initiative International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Air access

25. Improvements to other airfields including Mole National Park, Wa and Bolgatanga. • Development of new airfields to serve Cape Coast and Takoradi and expansion of both regular and Charter Domestic air service including Helicopter Services. • A new international airport planned for development in the NingoPrampram area over the long-term must receive immediate attention. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Air access

26. Tourism practitioners must think of “product development” not only in the context of creating new attractions, but also in linking existing assets in new, more powerful ways. In essence, linking utilizes “mental mortar” rather than “bricks and mortar” to move the thinking forward. • Product development must also consider enhancing existing infrastructure assets to ensure they stay fresh and responsive to evolving consumer demands. Thus “create, link and enhance” has to be consistently considered when considering product development applications. • A second key principle is the importance of truly evaluating the power of a destination’s product. The terms “Destination Driver,” “Driver Accelerants” and “Dependent Amenities” must be utilized to assist Ghana in considering its current and future product base. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Tourism Infrastructure & product development

27. These terms can be thought of in the following manner: • ♦ Destination Drivers – those products that truly stimulate the fundamental travel decision, are often identified with the destination itself and can drive large levels of visitation; • ♦ Driver Accelerants - products that are important additions to the travel experience and can help solidify the decision on where to travel; and • ♦ Dependent Amenities – those products that travelers will often frequent once they arrive at a destination, but they rarely play an integral role in the travel decision. • In looking to the future, we must particularly focus on new product initiatives that can play the role of new drivers. Caution should be used to ensure that limited resources are not targeted towards efforts that solely add just one more dependent amenity. International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure Tourism Infrastructure & product development

28. THANK YOU! International Tourism Investment Forum / Tourism Infrastructure