Paul Danka – Former Government Appointee
A former government appointee to the Talensi District Assembly and the Regional Administrator of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Paul Danka has called on District Assemblies in the Upper East Region to pay some attention to the tourism sector to generate revenue for their development works.
According to him, the Assemblies need to be creative in generating revenue from the many “money making opportunities”, within and around their areas, so as to match up to the expectations and needs of their citizenry.
Mr Danka was speaking in an interview with the DAILY GUIDE, which turned to buttress the Upper East Regional Minister, Rockson Ayine Bukari’s continuous call on the District and Municipal Assemblies in the region, not to hang all their hopes on their share of the District Assemblies Common Fund, rather, they should look around their districts and turn opportunities into money for their development.
Mr Danka, a tourism enthusiast, believes that, the Assemblies in the Upper East Region can make a lot of money from tourism than what they earn from market tolls.
“The Assemblies are looking at the various tourist attractions in their area, and thinking they are not viable. You can’t make money from tourist sites when you have not invested in them. You have to invest in the road, receptacles, accommodation, souvenirs and marketing, then the tourist attractions can create money.”
The Upper East Region has a number of tourist attractions that are enjoying some patronage by a few local and foreign tourists, while others are “dying off”.
A Principal Marketing Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority in the Upper East Regional office, John Adams in an interview with the DAILY GUIDE, described the call as a good one, saying, “Investing in the Tourism Sector is good, but there is so much to be done to generate so much money.”
He noted that, even though investing in the sector is viable, one has to consider the kind of attraction that is available and the attitude of the local people towards the facility.
“There is also the need to consider the pull factors around these tourist sites and the need to make the journey to the place easy and interesting. That is all about tourism, it has to be fun and worth the travel and investment,” Mr. Adams noted.
FROM: EBO BRUCE-QUANSAH, Bolgatanga