Mr Sampson Ekow, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer, in-charge of Operations, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), says the new Tourism Sites Regulations, LI 2393, will guide tourist sites to conform to best practices to enhance tourists’ experiences.
He said most tourist sites were not developed and lacked amenities such as toilet facilities and parking areas coupled with poor access roads.
Briefing the media during a workshop on the implementation of the Regulations at Kpando in the Volta Region, Mr Ekow said the training would give site operators an insight into what the Regulations entailed to prepare them for its implementation.
He said the Regulations contained details including receptive facilities and parking spaces as well as ensuring that trained site guards were bilingual where necessary.
It would also enable the community-based attraction sites to be developed to give tourists a better experience and ensure that all facilities were in place with good services rendered by trained staff to incentivise the patrons.
He said the GTA was mandated to regulate all tourism enterprises and sites, thus operators could not operate if they were not told what to do.
The Authority, over the years, had come up with tactical campaign slogans such as “wear Ghana, “See Ghana” and “Eat Ghana,” all geared towards promoting domestic tourism.
Mr Ekow said the Government was doing a lot to develop infrastructure at the tourist sites through the Ghana Tourism Development Project, and entreated communities with tourism potentials to work with the GTA to develop those sites, adding that the Volta and Oti regions had numerous sites that needed to be developed.
Mr Alexander Nketia, the Volta Regional Manager, GTA, said tourism was one of the areas highly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and though it picked up as at mid 2022, it was expected improve by the close of the year.
He said tourists were attracted to sites with good facilities to ensure their comfort, hence the need to provide the necessary infrastructure in addition to activities that would excite them.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Wisdom Lavoe, the Kpando Divisional Police Commander, said the command engaged in regular patrols, both day and night, to ensure public safety as well as the security of vital installations.
