Tourism and household income of Abono community members in the

Ashanti Region of Ghana

ByFoster Frempong & Louis Amofa Asamoah

Dept. of Geography & Rural Dev’tKNUST, Kumasi

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

Introduction

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

Population growth Economic growth

High Low

High Ghana

Low

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

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).

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

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

• 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).

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.

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

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

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

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

• 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),

Tourism and employment

Tourism does create employment – Direct Employment– Indirect Employment– Induced Employment

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

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

Results and discussions

Socio-demographic Frequency PercentageSexMale 46 61.3Female 29 38.7EducationNone 5 6.7Elementary/JHS 47 62.7

Secondary 13 17.3Polytechnic 10 13.3Household size 1- 5 40 53.36 – 9 32 42.710 – 14 3 4.0

Income range of respondents

Income range (Gh cedis) Frequency Percentage

10 – 30 17 22,731 – 60 20 26.761 – 90 10 13.3100 + 28 37.3

Total 75 100.0

Effects of tourism activities on household income

Seasonality of tourism activities and household income

Effects of tourism on employment in Abono

Employment of local people

• 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

• Specific tourism activities for local people

Type of tourism enterprise Number of peopleSellers 28Accommodation 27Tour guiding 6Handicraft 1Total 62

Seasonality nature of tourism jobs at Abono

• Seasonality has obvious implications on employment

• Peak season: December – April• Off season : April - November

Seasonality of tourism jobs

Alternative jobs during off seasons

Tourism and MDG 1

• Standard of living

Patronage of products from Abono

• Fresh fish• Carving work• Woven clothes• Clay works• Beads• Other farm products

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

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

THANK YOU