Elsewhere, the question has been asked by anti-royalists whether, by accident of birth, societies should continue to set above their citizens the unelected few called royals to rule over the majority.
Whereas the question will always whisk the minds of some, especially the so-called modernists who see monarchs as a waste of time and public resources, it is one institution that has defined traditions and has enriched the history of practising countries. Royalty revives and tells the traditions and customs of a people for posterity.
And so as King Charles III of England’s coronation unfolded last weekend live before millions of viewers, the rich history of the British monarchy dating back centuries was beautifully told.
Coronation
The coronation, as one witnessed on television captured thousands of people defying that morning’s rain just to be part of the historic occasion.
Reportedly, more than 20 million people tuned in around the globe to watch the event while the country predicted over 30,000 visitors for the coronation fortnight. Definitely, there were business gains here. With the millions watching the occasion live, advertisers must have had a field day with their products opened up to the world.
And so as interest heightened, so, one gathers, did also tourism revenue. The coronation opened up the country to tourism opportunities. It has been reported that about 350 million pounds of windfall was expected as tourism revenue to boost the economy.
For those countries which are much into royalty, therefore, some of the lessons from the coronation are worth carrying forward.
Traditional Rulers
In our own country, monarchies represented by our traditional rulers are very much a part of our local development. With our Chiefs and Queen Mothers firmly in control, we can develop and escalate certain practices and traditions to an all-high level.
Let us pause for a minute and think about the beautiful and historic occasions at the traditional level that communities can create never-ending tourist attractions about.
We have occasions which not only positively impact tourism but they also serve as a unifying force for the people as they come under one umbrella to celebrate tradition and culture.
Across the country, we celebrate colourful festivals each year. These celebrations bring families together as well as locals living in other parts of the country. Some of the high-profile festivals are already bringing in tourists but there are other avenues to make them even more glorious.
Talk about the Adae Kese festival, Homowo, Odwira, Hogbetsotso, Fetu Afahye, Aboakyer, Damba and many more festivals across the country. It is time to hype them up and exploit them to the fullest to the benefit of not only the local economies but the national as well.
As one reflects on the coronation, my imagination has gone wild with ideas on the kind of things our chieftaincy institutions could do to add value to established festivals while adding benefits both at community and national levels.
Luckily, we have a whole Ministry devoted to Chieftaincy Affairs in this country. We also have the Ghana Tourism Authority actively promoting both local and foreign tourism. Active collaboration between the two can work for the good of the country, promoting chieftaincy-related occasions to be exploited and pushed at the tourism platform.
Stealing With pride
I love the idea of stealing good concepts with pride. There is no shame about it so long as it will promote something purposeful. As I believe there are some ideas one could proudly steal from the King’s coronation to boost tourism, one particular idea that appealed much was their community day celebration.
The community day celebration reportedly brought together thousands of youngsters and families across Britain to be engaged in celebrations that were planned by local community groups and which highlighted the impact of volunteering in communities. The day saw a mixture of tradition and modernity, culture and community that define the people and the nation.
I look at our traditional setups and the way our youth get enchanted with community engagements, this kind of arrangement could beautifully be packaged to fit into the calendar of our traditional festivals.
The year of return and other such initiatives have worked well for us and we should continue to make room and keep an open door for our Diaspora relations and friends. But we should also make conscious efforts with plans to connect with communities in our backyard and get people, especially the youth to engage in community volunteerism around local celebrations.
With tourism drive in mind, may our traditional rulers lead us and begin to engage with their festival planners, may the Ghana Tourism Authority engage the Chieftaincy Ministry, and may we all push and pull with the aim to craft and drive volunteerism and other community engagements as an active part of our festivals.
Let the Ministry of Chieftaincy have a close collaboration with the Ghana Tourism Authority and let us see our many traditional celebrations transform into something else beyond what we are used to.
There are surely new creative activities one could build around our beautiful monarchies for local and national advantage. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
By Vicky Wireko