Institutional Realignment Of The Tourism Agencies; My Armchair Perspectives

Efficiency is very key in ensuring the effectiveness of an organisation. That is, if an organisation would be able to achieve set-goals and make remarkable impacts then efficiency must be at the heart of the management and administration of both human and non-human resources.Efficiency entails right-sizing inputs of production to achieve maximum benefits.

Efficiency is not an end per se but a means to an end. Apart from having a seminal effect on the effectiveness of an organisation in achieving set-goals with scarce resources and saving resources, it also helps improve overhead cost and profit margins.

Institutional realignment is one way of ensuring efficiency in the management and administration of an organisation.The recent realignment of the tourism ministry to include culture and creative artsvia an Executive Instrument (E.I 1, 2013), the establishment of the Tourism Act, 2011 (Act 817) which begot the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), formerly known as Ghana Tourism Board (GTB) and the Tourism Development Fund, I am sure took efficiency much into consideration.

The realignment, I think, should have affected the Ministry's 14 agencies. The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts (MoTCCA); a ministry with one of the least budgetary receipts can run efficiently and thus effectively with far less than 14 agencies. So I am wondering why it has been burdened with 14 agencies, all feeding on its paltry budgetary receipts and playing fragmented roles aimed at different targets, when its sister ministries with far more budgetary receipts likeEnergy, Education, Interior, and Trade and Industries inter alia have seven, 12, 11 and seven agencies respectively.

The Tourism Act (Act 817) was promulgated in 2011. The Act established the legal and regulatory framework within which all tourism activities must operate. The Act also established the GTA to enforce the provisions in the Act (see section 3aof the Tourism Act). This puts the GTA at the heart of the tourism industry in the country.

It is the administrative and the principal implementation body of the MoTCCA whose functions cut across the various sectors in the tourism industry. The Authority's functions also spans from licensing and sanctioning to the administration of the one percent tourism levy paid into the Tourism Development Fund by tourism enterprises in the country. The central role it plays has made it a linchpin in the tourism industry in Ghana.

The Hotel,Tourism and Catering Training Institute (HOTCATT) is being restructured under a public-privatepartnership toequip personnel in the tourism industry with the requisite skills and competencies to enable them keep up with best practices and function effectively in the industry. Cabinet has approved the restructuring of HOTCATT into National Tourism and Hospitality Training Institution.

This is commendable as the institution can help create a Ghana Tourism Lore, underpinned by scientific research which would be a guide for future researches and innovations in the industry. As competitive as the industry is globally, scientific innovations is what would make the Ghana tourism industry standout and be the most preferred by tourists all over the world.

The resplendent Ghanaian culture is a sector whose vigorous promotion can bring enough revenue into the industry. Apart from the Ghanaian hospitality culture which most tourists hail, cultural events and practices like our festivals, music and arts are a sight to behold and loved by many tourists. The National Commission on Culture (NCC) was established in 1990 by the PNDCL 238 to manage from a holistic perspective, the cultural life of the country.

That is the overall culture of Ghana and its management is the responsibility of the NCC. Section 3 of the PNDCL 238 which established the NCC says it has responsibility over the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB), W.E.B Du Bois Centre, The National Theatre of Ghana, National Dance Ensemble, National Drama Company (Abibigromma) National Symphony Orchestra and Ghana Bureau of Languages among others. Yet these agencies are listed as separate agencies of MoTCCA headed by Executive Directors.

A prima facie glance through the functions of the various agencies mentioned above, including the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, National Folklore Board and Pan African Writers Association reveals their individual fragmented roles aimed at their respective targets in the cultural sector of the tourism industry. These fragmented roles do not and consequently have not made any significant impact on the cultural sector of the tourism industry in Ghana.

These agencies have their own respective targets; although aimed at achieving the overall vision of the MoTCCA, their impacts are not being felt because of the uncoordinated nature of these roles. However, if all these agencies are put directly under the NCC as directorates and made to work towards the achievement of a common target or goal, their impact on the Ghanaian culture, tourism industry and the overall Ghanaian society would be much felt.

Just imagine a National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFAC), one of the flagship programmes of the NCC with the full involvement of GMMB displaying antiquated Ghanaian artefacts; National Dance Ensemble gracing the Festival with a mishmash of Ghanaian traditional dances, like Adowa, Agbadza, Borbor, Kpanlogo, Damba dance, Azonto etc.; Abibigromma re-enacting flagship Ghanaian historical events like the slave trade, the colonisation of Gold Coast, political events that led to Ghana's independence and among others; National Symphony Orchestra refreshing our soul with patriotic Ghanaian songs; all because they are directorates under NCC working towards a common target aimed at promoting the Ghanaian culture. Can you imagine the impact???

It may be argued that with the current arrangement, these agencies can still be made to play active roles in the NAFAC since they are all agencies under MoTCCA. YES! But their impact would not be felt much than when they are placed directly under NCC and the target of the NCC becomes their target. Like whatI learnt in public administration that the sum total of the whole is better than the individual parts and like what the Akan proverb says that one broom stick breaks when it is bent unlike a jillion of them put together; synergy of roles and unity of purpose ensures optimum results, that is the point.

Some of these agencies, it seems, are becoming a flash in the pan; their establishment was hailed as a major success but the same cannot be said post their establishment. It is largely due to inadequate funds. Thus the most efficient way of managing these agencies is to put them under a common umbrella and make them work towards a common target.

Apart from the ineffectiveness of these agencies, this arrangement is not cost effective and an efficient institutional arrangement. The MoTCCA is currently managing on a shoestring and burdening it with 14 agencies has rendered these agencies white elephants.

If GTA is for implementation and administrative purposes; GTDC for investment, HOTCATT for training of personnel then NCC and all the agencies it has responsibility over,as well as the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, National Folklore Board and Pan African Writers Association should all be made to work under it. This would help remove the inefficiencies that the current arrangement breeds andmake the Ghanaian culture a prominent force in the tourism industry.