TOUR OPERATORS SLAM ECOWAS PASSPORT FOR FAILING TO BOOST TOURISM IN WEST AFRICA 01-07-24
By Sadiq Aminu The West African sub-region is facing a significant challenge in the tourism sector, with operators lamenting the slow growth of the industry due to visa policies, border check-points, and security barriers.
A recent road trip from Nigeria to Benin, Togo, and Ghana revealed the difficulties faced by tourists and the negative impact on the local economy.
The operators who were unhappy with these challenges spoke after the trip that culminated at the 7th Accraweizo event in Accra, Ghana with the theme:
According to tour operators, the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) passport, which allows for visa-free travel within the region, has not been effectively implemented.
This has led to bureaucratic procedures at border check-points, causing frustration and inconvenience for tourists, and ultimately resulting in a negative experience.
Nigeria’s Travel and Tourism Ambassador, Mr. Ikechi Uko, who led the team, expressed concern that East Africa has moved ahead in tourism, while West Africa has failed to recognize the sector’s potential to generate revenue.
“West Africa initiated that need to move around, ECOWAS protocols is the best in Africa and we have been left behind and this is our own opportunity and the private sector will start something and the government will come in”.
Deputy Chief Officer and General Services, Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr. Ben Anane-Nsiah added that the bureaucratic procedures at border check-points can cause tourists to lose interest in visiting the region.
“It is a stressful experience especially our Nigerian borders, you find a security agency and 50 meters ahead another agency and 20 meters another agency”.
The decline in tourist arrivals has resulted in significant economic losses for local businesses, including hotels, restaurants, and tour operators.
Executive Director of a hotel in Ghana, Royal Senchi, Mr. Nana Yeboah-Afari, stressed that the industry is in dire need of support to recover from the pandemic.
“This is not good enough if you want to promote our region, it is not good enough, I have had a lot of experiences, Togo, Cote d’ivore, it is not pleasant for most day to day people and its so difficult”.
To address these challenges, tour operators are urging governments to review their visa policies and border checks to allow more people to visit the region.
A Nigerian tour operator, Mrs Shalom Asuquo said, “the objective of ECOWAS was before tourism, so they need to amend it even though they include trade, they did not include the movement of humans. They have to rethink or add tourism in it because in tourism there is trade promotion, culture exchange, inter marriages”.
While her Ghana counterpart, Mrs Alisa Asamoah praised the Accraweizo platform that gives them the opportunity to voice their concerns saying, “this is the sort of partnership and collaboration accraweizo engenders and TOUGHA is proud to be associated with”.
Mrs Olanma Ojukwu from Benin Republic urged her colleagues to “appreciate what I have in your country and I appreciate what you have and what we have in common, see how to harness our strength to make it even better and sell it as a one standing product”.
They are also calling for collaboration and partnership among travel and tourism practitioners to sell the West Africa region as one destination.
The operators believe that by working together, they can promote the region’s unique cultural heritage, natural beauty, and economic potential, and attract more tourists to the area.
As the region continues to grapple with these challenges, it is clear that a collaborative effort is needed to revitalize the tourism industry and stimulate economic growth.
By simplifying visa policies and border checks, and promoting the region as a single destination, West Africa can once again become a popular tourist destination.