Tourism and household income of Abono community members in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

1. Tourism and household income of Abono community members in the Ashanti Region of Ghana By Foster Frempong & Louis AmofaAsamoah Dept. of Geography & Rural Dev’t KNUST, Kumasi

2. Presentation outline • Introduction • Problem statement • Objectives • Rationale for the study • Tourism and income generation • Tourism and employment • Methodology • Results and discussions • The way forward

3. Introduction • Developing countries have the highest population numbers and growth rates in the world

4. Other economic impacts of tourism • Contribution to sales • Profits • Jobs • Tax revenue • Income

5. Introduction cont. • Tourism activities mostly support the productive capacity of households by increasing skills and providing cash for operational capital and investment • The new skills gained by household members involved in tourism can be transferred to other activities (Ashley, 2000).

6. Introduction cont. • Tourism has been identified as a potential contributor to economic and socio-cultural development of countries • Considering the returns from tourism, it is imperative that it is given the attention it deserves • Most developing countries, especially those in Africa have taken to tourism as one of the possible panacea to their economic challenges

7. Introduction • Development of tourism in Ghana can • diversify the livelihoods of rural households • minimize risks and uncertainties of other economic activities, • maintain liquidity in households and • increase employment rates • Tourism can decrease the uncontrolled migration from rural to urban areas

8. Some less developed countries of sub-Sahara Africa have realized the potential of tourism development for rapid socio-economic development. • Tourism is capable of generating foreign exchange; reduce unemployment and improving the standard of the people (Ajala 2008).

9. Problem • Most tourist attraction sites are found in rural areas with a high number of poor people • Local communities, are mostly not major participants in or beneficiaries of tourism activities.

10. Problem contd. • Lake Bosomtwe is the only natural lake in Ghana which attracts an appreciable number of tourists and the only internal drainage system in the country • Abono community • Community members find it difficult to meet their daily responsibilities of taking care of their family needs due to low income generation from their activities

11. Objectives • Examine the effects of tourism activities on household income of the local people. • Examine effects of tourism on employment opportunities in the community. • Assess the effects of tourism on poverty reduction in the community

12. Rationale for the study • Help eradicate extreme poverty in the Abono community • Ensure environmental sustainability for tourism growth and development • Appreciate the situation of employment development, income and poverty reduction through tourism

13. Tourism and income generation • Income from tourism is dependent on the money tourists spend in the community • Tourist expenditure in most cases increases the income earning capability of the local people

14. Tourism generally generates three types of cash income for rural households and community tourism can generate a fourth additional type for the community • Regular wages for those with jobs • Casual earnings opportunities from selling food, wood, crafts, etc • Profits from ownership of a tourism enterprise • Collective income earned by the community (Ashley, 2000),

15. Tourism and employment Tourism does create employment • Direct Employment • Indirect Employment • Induced Employment

16. Methods • Study area: Abono, 32km southeast of Kumasi • Population: 1154 • Education: One (1) Primary and One (1) JHS • Health: One (1) Health facility – not in operation, no Ambulance car • Others Social facility: One (1) public toilet facility, no telephones • Major agriculture products - cocoa, maize, cassava and plantain

18. Methodology • Study population: Abono community members who are 18 years and above • Sample size : 75 • Sampling technique: • Stratified sampling • Simple random sampling • Data collection instrument: Interview schedule

19. Results and discussions

21. Income range of respondents

22. Effects of tourism activities on household income Seasonality of tourism activities and household income

23. Effects of tourism on employment in Abono Employment of local people

24. Tourism cannot survive without involvement of local people through employment (Richard and Hall (2000) • local people can increase their income • Improve living standards • leads to a better quality of life

25. Specific tourism activities for local people

26. Seasonality nature of tourism jobs at Abono • Seasonality has obvious implications on employment • Peak season: December – April • Off season : April - November

27. Seasonality of tourism jobs

28. Alternative jobs during off seasons

29. Tourism and MDG 1 • Standard of living

30. Patronage of products from Abono • Fresh fish • Carving work • Woven clothes • Clay works • Beads • Other farm products

31. How can tourism help to address poverty • Supply of goods and services to tourism enterprises by local people (Yunis, 2004) • Encouragement of enterprises to identify new sources of supply • Collaborating with local community for constant supply of goods and services

32. The way forward • Public and private investment • Provision of facilities (seats, summer hats, boats, ambulance cars, banks, temporal rooms for visitors to keep their belongings and other social services • Protection of the resource that tourism thrives. • Monies from toll booth charges should be used for developmental projects in the community • Marketing of the area

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