Going places with Kofi Akpabli: Promote internal tourism As we promised, we bring you the first of our ‘From the Archives’ Series. You would enjoy, as usual, articles on very interesting areas in Ghana. The twist is that these masterpieces have been written many, many years ago (so long, you have no idea). Please stay glued to this page and watch what has changed and what has amazingly remained the same. When I dug myself into the archives the first nugget that came out is this incisive, witty, but authoritative travel article called promote internal tourism. It appeared in the then ‘’Sunday Mirror’’ (Actually, my dad still calls it that, despite the 100 times that we have corrected him). As I was reading this piece, I kept asking myself “ Is this really 46 years ago?’’ This is because it is dated March 5, 1967, exactly 10 years on the eve of Ghana’s independence. The writer, who, I don’t know and have never heard of before, is simply Togbi Yao. For an article that was written a decade before the one in which I was born in, it strikes too many chords. But you read and judge for yourself what has changed and what hasn’t. But what I like about the author is how he waxes lyrical, how he bares it all and how he bites when he had to. He not only has a very good sense of humour, but also possesses a grasp of the economics of tourism. And Togbi Yao proffers solutions too! One of the challenges people confront me with is transportation to tourist attractions and the issue of hotels. Well, he makes a fine suggestion. As a travel writer he has a good knowledge of his terrain. Togbi Yao writes with a passion. And, oh another thing. He knows how to make an entrance. Enjoy… — — — — — — — — — — — — I have just returned from a trip to the Western Region and I feel good. So good that I would, applying the words of Shakespeare, counsel the city dwellers of Accra to go “see the wonders of the world abroad, than live sluggardiz’d at home!’’ Go, see, at least, other parts of Ghana. For, not only have “home-keeping youth ever homely wits,’’ but also, they do less than justice to themselves by limiting their bounds of healthy and social contacts. And for that matter, Kumasians, Tamaleans, and Ho-ans must break loose from their several cities and see other parts of Ghana more. A picturesque country When we hear talk of the encouragement of tourism in Ghana, the talk is not meant only for strangers with wads of dollar, marks in their outsize pockets: it is meant for the Ghana-bred as well. Ours is a picturesque country of wooded hills and mountains; green fields and intriguing valleys; streams, rivers and lakes, and many natural beauties. What is more, the rural dwellers of Ghana will welcome you into their midst in the true Ghanaian fashion. The tonic wealth of farms, the country air, colourfully plumed birds and four-legged inmates of our forest-lands and grasslands- these will be yours if you will go to meet them. The mere change should stimulate you and relax you. And here, let me voice my out my dismay at the obtuse lack of imagination on the part of the managers of our otherwise fabulous hotels ‘Atlantic’ and ‘City.’ There they sit, in the smugness of an air assured monthly salary, while the hotel rooms remain empty, and while these state hotels lose money systematically. Supposing the hotel was owned by a private group of profit-seeking, shareholders, or if the hotel were to close down unless it made profit, or, were the managers to have the sack if they did not make profits, would things not have been quite different? The taxpayer will not regret the expenditure which went into building the hotels if they were to put to optimum use within limits of local conditions. For, profit or no profit, the State Hotels in Kumasi and Takoradi would still have been justified by the sheer need of modern facilities for travellers’ accommodation. The hotel might never have been built for many years to come, if left to private enterprise. This, let us admit. Not every public service needs be processed strictly through the economic sieve. But at least, the nation could cut its losses if state hotels could be run by the management as though they owned them. Transportation: In the sorry absence of functional ideas here are a few: • Establish special weekend tourist class facilities through the local information media, advertise special rates to accommodate the pockets of working people and pleasure hunters at weekend, trim down the dining and renting cars to attract the middle-income groups who would never otherwise know the insides of our state hotels. • Lay on special transport from, say, Accra to the hotel cities. Make the fares tourist-class rates. Or make things inclusive of fare, feeding, and boarding and lodging. • Arrange special attractions of other kinds to include artistes, competitions and dances of the year. The City Hotel should provide the transportation between it and Kumasi during the night at a cost to the user. Meanwhile, improve the services. To be continued. Source: The Mirror
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 05:03:25 +0000
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