The Eastern Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr. Frederick Adjei-Rudolph has charged the various District and Municipal Assemblies to focus on the development of potential tourism sites in the region.
According to Mr. Rudolph, focusing on potential tourism sites is a more strategic revenue generation approach instead of the minor toll collection outlets the assemblies focus on.
“The district assemblies should start focusing on tourism development rather than the little, little tolls that they get from elsewhere because tourism products are forever,” he told host of Rite FM’s Community Watch program when he appeared as guest on the show to discuss the various tourism potentials in the Eastern region.
Mr. Rudolph who eulogized the several tourism potentials in the region was confident that the sites if well-developed could enhance massive development of the eastern region.
“Ghana and for that matter the Eastern Region is endowed with a lot of tourist attractions which if developed will enhance development (in the region),” he argued. “The various district and municipal assemblies are the direct owners of these resources and it is therefore their mandate to take up these initiatives.”
The Eastern Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority also said the country should additionally take advantage of its stability to promote tourism in the country.
“Luckily for us, Ghana is a very stable country; politically, we’re stable, security wise, we are stable, and so we have everything for us and what we really need now is to take our tourism much more seriously than we do now,” he said, opining that the Eastern Region has a lot to gain if these attractions are developed.
The Tourism Authority as part of efforts to decentralize its operations in the country to the various districts, is setting up zonal offices.
Mr. Rudolph nevertheless charged the various assemblies to establish tourism desks within their outfits to facilitate the proposals development.
Some notable tourism monuments in the region include the Senchi Bridge as well as the Akosombo Dam, which is the largest electricity generator in the entire country.
The Eastern Region of Ghana is equally well known for the beautiful cascading waterfalls. These waterfalls are well known and some of these include; Boti falls, Akaah Falls, Begoro Falls which is located in the heart of a magnificent woodland forest.
These tourist sites serve as good spots for picnics and other social events.
On the other hand, the Volta Lake, part of which runs through the eastern region is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.
Other sites are the Aburi Botanical Gardens, the Butterfly Sanctuary at Kibi, the Biggest Tree in West Africa located in the Esen-Epam Forest Reserve in Asantemanso, the Bunso Arboretum Forest, and the Akwatia Diamond Mines.
Other historic Attractions in Eastern Region are the Slave Market of Abonse, Tetteh Quarshie’s Original Cocoa Farm and the Okomfo Anokye’s Shrine.
Additionally, a number of traditional festivals also take place in the region.
Source: Joyce Bedeley/ritefmonline.org/jbedeley9357@gmail.com
