By: Alex Nyarko
The Tema Regional Director of Tourism, Charles Boabeng has observed the need to invest in developing tourist sites in Tema as a means of attracting tourists to Tema and generating income from the numerous potentials in the metropolis.
“From the days of Nkrumah, we had the best hotels, the best restaurants; that glory is diminishing and everyone can do what has to be done; start developing the land marks and the museums to attract the tourists” Mr. Charles Boabeng said
Mr. Boabeng made this call on Wednesday (July, 2022) during an interaction with students of Our Lady of Mercy Senior High School (OLAMS).
Students were educated on the Greenwich Meridian that passes through Tema and how city authorities could take advantage of it and other attractions to promote tourism.
Mr. Boabeng said a museum for instance could be built in memory of Ghana’s most celebrated goal keeper, Robert Mensah, a resident of Tema who had may hats and artifacts people would pay to watch.
He said the mysterious Baobab tree close to the Greenwich Meridian could generate revenue for the country.
He also talked about how bad it was for the Naval Base in Tema to be opened to the public once a week. This situation he said, stifled tourism and prevented people who would want to pay to cruise past the Greenwich Meridian line in Ghana’s territorial waters.
“Concerning the Sakumo Ramsar site, is there a hiking trail that you can walk on to see the birds? Is there a resting place to sit to observe them? We need to do a lot of product development as we reach out, and eventually we would get the people to come and we would get a lot to do and enjoy it,” Mr. Boabeng observed.
Mr. Boabeng indicated that the promotion of tourism is a process that must be initiated and seen through so that it yielded the right results for the city.
He said his outfit had embarked upon a community-based Eco project at Tema Newtown by planting coconut trees.
Observing the fishing landing sites, smoking sites, the chief’s palace among others, Mr Boabeng said if these sites are developed, they could contribute to boosting tourism in the area.
The Regional Tourism Director therefore proposed a Tourism Development Committee with all the stakeholders.
“We can bring back our festivals, organized them on metropolitan basis, regularly; let’s embark on community volunteerism so that we can contribute to beautification of the city, gradually people would start coming and the traffic would increase,” he said.
The Coordinator of Abibinsroma Foundation, Mr. Robert Amiteye indicated that interacting with the students was part of efforts in promoting domestic tourism in the Tema Metropolis.
“They need to understand and experience it, if we the locals are able to experience it, it forms part of the drive in promoting domestic tourism because no one can better tell your story apart from yourself,” Mr. Amiteye explained.
He observed that Tema being the closest city to the Centre of the World opened the gates for investors to come up with tourism-oriented businesses which would create jobs and generate revenue for development, and that should be a priority for the city authorities.
Mr. Amiteye hinted that it was time to develop the landmarks along the Greenwich Meridian line to promote domestic tourism.
“This idea of Tema being the Centre of the World has been there for decades and we haven’t seen much in line with developing the potentials it comes with in attracting tourists” Mr. Amiteye
The engagement with the students was organized by the Abibinsroma Foundation in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service, Ghana Tourism Authority, the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), Miss Centre of the World Ghana Organization and the Eastern Naval Command of the Ghana Navy.
The first phase of the exercise, which took place some weeks back, helped students in the metropolis to trail the Longitude Zero Degrees (00) and identify some of the landmarks along the Greenwich line.
Abibinsroma and the other partners have engaged students from Chemu, Manhyian, Presbyterian Senior High Schools, among others in trying to increase the number of people with awareness about the benefits of local tourism.