Ghana Tourism currency goes beyond events; let’s get to work in answer to the call of the Black Star Experience.
Tourism goes more beyond events: events would help attract tourists (internally and from outside the country) and that require a lot of expenditure for just temporary periods. The tourism agencies therefore must must be to work beyond events—to explore and develop our unexploited tourism potential capital:
Renovate and operationalise our marginalized tangible tourism sites: Cape castle is not and must not always be the only slave trade fort for tourists visit; there are other forts which when developed and given efficient leadership/management would add to the tourism currency. E.g. Ussher fort, James fort (even in Accra).
Per the objective of the “Black Star Experience” our agencies must explore other tourism currencies from our blessings—literary tourism; sports tourism; agritourism etc. in partnership with the Metropolitan Assemblies and other relevant institutions: e.g. build creative/literary/sports museums in honour of Ghanaians who have excelled in in their respective regions e.g. Efua Sutherland, Azumah Nelson, Agya Koonimo, Kofi Awoonor, Atukwei Okai, Abedi Pele, Ama Ata Aidoo, DK Poison, Ablade Glover to mention but a few.
Invest in our intangible cultural heritage and market them through our indigenous art to tourists at our cultural spaces, forts, museums etc by resident groups.
Collaborate with or sponsor creatives like writers, publishers, film makers, musicians, artists to mention but a few to create content to market the cultural and tourism potential of our motherland.
Have we thought of an Ananse village where tourists would experience our rich and beautiful folklore? Can we imagine the ‘tourism contribution’ of this to our economy?
We have had a sensational era and marketed Ghana. It’s not too late—Our tourism agencies must situate the tourism capital rightfully so to make tourists (especially foreigners) really experience Ghana upon their visits. We truly have much work to do. Onward we march.
Anyways, I take this opportunity to wish Agya koonimo a very belated Happy 94th Birthday! Such a cultural/art/tourism capital unexploited to benefit Ghana.
Oswald Okaitei
