TOURISM SECTOR GROWS STEADILY IN NORTHERN REGION (PAGE 42, OCT 28, 2010)

THE tourism sector in the Northern Region has been growing steadily for the past eight years in the areas of revenue and tourist arrivals to the region.
According to the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB), the region bagged GH¢142,218 from 17,620 tourist arrivals in 2001 as against GH¢9,401 from 7,295 visitors recorded in 2002.
In 2008, the region recorded 20,711 tourist arrivals and obtained GH¢62,385 as revenue. In 2007, GH¢51,889 was received in the sector with 16,545 visitors to tourist sites. The major tourist attractions are located at Larabanga, Mognori, Daboya, Mole National Park and Tizaa, among others.
The Regional Chief Officer of the GTB, Mr Alexander Nketia, made this known to the Daily Graphic in Tamale during a symposium to mark the World Tourism Day.
He attributed the growth to frantic efforts to protect and discover more tourist attractions in the region. The day was held on the theme: “Tourism and biodiversity.”
According to Mr Nketia, the developing world’s share of global or international tourism had grown from 34 per cent in 2000 to 40 per cent currently.
Mr Nketia said Ghana had grown from 428,533 visitors in 2005 with corresponding receipts of $836 million to over 850,000 visitors in 2009 with receipts of over $1.5 billion.
“If these figures are anything to go by, then there is the need to protect and conserve the biodiversity on which our tourism attractions are dependent,” he stated.
Mr Nketia stressed the need to educate and inform communities, particularly the youth, about the dangers of destroying biodiversity.
“The GTB, therefore, sees it as a unique opportunity to raise public awareness, especially among the youth, of the importance of biodiversity to tourism development,” he stressed.
Mr Nketia urged communities to avoid such activities as poaching, bush burning, lumbering, environmental pollution, improper disposal of waste and use of weedicides.
A lecturer at the Department of Ecotourism and Environment at the University for Development Studies, Mr Raymond Adongo, said tourism depended so much on biodiversity, adding that one of the fastest growing sectors of tourism was the nature based one.
He advocated the formation of tourism clubs in schools, the development of tourism infrastructure as well as proper disposal of waste.