Poor road network impeding tourism in Brong Ahafo

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has honoured 21 institutions and individuals in the Brong Ahafo Region for excelling in the hospitality industry in 2017.

The awards ceremony, which took place at the plush Eusbett International Conference Centre (EICC) in Sunyani, was on the theme “Promoting Responsible Tourism

Speaking at the event, the Acting Brong Ahafo Regional Manager of GTA, Joseph Appiagyei, observed that service delivery in the tourism sector had improved significantly in the last years and as a result, the region had been recording more investments in the sector.

He was however not happy about the poor road network leading to most of the tourist sites in the region and called on the government to improve on the situation to increase patronage of these sites and shore up revenue for the state.

Mr. Appiagyei noted that the region has many tourist attraction sites that need to be developed to boost tourism and revenue in the region.

The Acting Regional Manager urged proprietors of Hotels, Guest Houses and other facilities in the hospitality industry to keep their premises clean at all times and operate in a manner that conforms to ECOWAS protocols on tourism.

On behalf of the award winners, the CEO of Eusbett Hotel in Sunyani, Sam Bennett, thanked the GTA for recognizing their efforts with the wards.

He however complained about plethora of taxes on hotels in the country and called for immediate abolishing or reduction of some the taxes to give operators in the industry some space to expand their businesses and employ more people.

Dr. Gabriel Benarkuu, the CEO of MIHOSO International, who presided over the programme, stressed the importance for stakeholders in the tourism industry, including practitioners, implementers and regulatory bodies and opinion leaders to put all hands on deck to ensure that standards are maintained and improved.

He noted that the region had many tourist attraction sites that needs to be developed to boost tourism and revenue in the region.

The Brong Ahafo Region is endowed with numerous tourist attractions but they have not been well developed to create more jobs and increase revenue for the state.

Notable among the tourist attraction points in the region are the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, the Kintampo Waterfalls, the Kintampo Fuller Falls, and an Ancient Slave Market site at Kunsu near Kintampo and the Buoyem Bats Colony near Techiman, and many more.