Developing a Viable Tourist Industry in Ghana

Despite Ghana's vast tourism resources, tourism has been unable to play a catalyst role In the country's development process. This failure of Ghana tourism is not attributable to foreign ownership and control as is implied in the political economy of Third World tourism analysing the industry from underdevelopment theoretical perspective. Rather, the problem to date is that Ghana's approach to tourism development has favoured the wholesale adoption of conventional (mass) tourism which does not fit with the country's low capital accumulation capacity, unskilled tourism personnel, and traditional entrepreneurial and management styles. Foreign capital and mass tourists, which are relied upon by most Third World countries to establish their tourist industries, are not forthcoming because of Ghana's political instablity. Under these conditions, the appropriate approach is to adopt nonconventional or alternative forms of tourism which could thrive on minimum tourism infrastructure and services, and can survive political instability.