PRO-POOR TOURISM POTENTIALS OF GHANA: The Contribution of Accommodation Facilities to Poverty Alleviation in the Wa Municipality

Abstract

The livelihoods enhancement potentials of the accommodation sub-sector of the tourism and hospitality industry has been neglected by development practitioners and the ‘academic community’ for some time now. This study therefore sought to explore how accommodation facilities, most of which is privately owned, are contributing to the development of tourism in the Wa Municipality of Ghana. Questionnaire was administered to collect data purposively from registered hoteliers in the Municipality and the regional office of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA). Fifteen (15) accommodation facilities which had restaurants attached were selected out of a total of 27 registered plants in the Municipality for the study. Those who responded were the owners/managers of the facilities or their assistants. Additionally, in-depth interviews (IDIs) were held with the manager and some officials of the GTA. The study revealed that all the hotels or accommodation facilities operating in the Municipality were of local origin (Ghanaian owned), offered employment to a cross-section of people from the entire Upper West Region of Ghana, sourced their products locally and supported guests to locate tourist attractions in the Region. Encouraging these facilities to continue to ‘chart’ this path of “local service production” was a sure way to ensuring that they contributed their quota to poverty alleviation and livelihood enhancement in the study area.

KEY WORDS: Pro-poor Development, Accommodation Facilities, Tourism, Employment, Poverty Alleviation.