Ecotourism Experiences of International Visitors of Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary, Ghana

BYFrancis Eric Amuquandoh

Department of Hospitality and Tourism ManagementUniversity of Cape Coast, Ghana

Introduction

World wide national parks and protected areas have become popular for ecotourism.

Providing for ecotourism and quality recreation have become an important activity many Forestry

Departments and Agencies around the world.

Ghana is among African countries promoting

ecotourism.

Introduction cont’d Reasons

Diversify the country’s tourism product.

Spread benefits of tourism to rural areas.

Stem rural urban drift.

Provide economic justification for maintaining protected areas.

Statement of the Problem

There is dearth of information on eco-tourists experiences in the national parks in Ghana.

Most of the previous studies have focused on the effects of the national park on the host communities.

Awusabo-Asare et. al., 1999Dei, 2000Akyeampong, 2010

The paper contributes in addressing this imbalance by investigating into tourists’ experiences in Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary.

Objectives

Highlight on the profile of visitors to the Sanctuary.

Assess experiences gained by international tourists from Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary.

Explore tourists’ experiences across social groupings.

Significance The findings may be useful to destination managers in product development.

May be useful in product marketing.

At the global scale, the study contributes to understanding of eco-tourists’ characteristics, expectations & experiences.

It could serve as a framework for evaluating benefits and experiences offered to visitors in other protected areas in Ghana.

Conceptual framework

Input Transformation Output Implication

International Visitors Attraction

Outcome1. Excitement2. Learning3. Solitude4. Others

For:1. Preservation of Protected areas2. Management Agenda3. Others

Feedback Loop

Input-Transformation-Output Relationship

Study area

Methodology The target population was international tourists at Owabi Sanctuary from 2003 to 2008.

Sample size of 2,900.

Data was analysed through the content analysis method on written comments and observations made by visitors to Owabi Sanctuary.

The post coding method was employed in assigning values to the comments.

Individual Characteristics Frequency Percent (%)Sex Male 1143 60.2 Female 757 39.8Nationality Dutch 370 19.5 British 365 19.2 North Americans 287 15.1 Germans 276 14.5 Austrians 85 4.5 Canadians 73 3.8 Belgian 64 3.4 Swiss 62 3.3 French 56 2.9 Swedish 54 2.8Occupation Students 832 43.8 Educationists/ Researchers 400 21.1 Professionals 392 20.6 Volunteers 144 7.6 Tour operators/travel consultants 92 4.8 Retirees 25 1.3 Clergy 11 0.6 Homemakers 4 0.2Travel profile/party size 1 925 48.7 2-3 327 17.2 4-5 51 2.6 6 and above 597 31.5

Profile of international tourists of Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary

31

Benefits Domain Examples of comments by visitors Frequency Percent (%)

Total (%)

Being closeto nature

Experience nature 47 1.6

18.7Enjoy natural scenery 512 17.1

Escape Experience solitude 179 6.0 6.0

RelaxationRest mentally 17 0.6

11.9Enjoy the smell and sound of nature 329 11.0Help release built-up tension 10 0.3

Learning

Learn more about natural history 445 14.923.Keep physical fit 205 6.8

Learn more about nature 34 1.1Experience new and difficult things 19 0.6

ImproveWell-being

Experience scene of personal freedom 4 0.10.9Help me to recover from everyday stress 20 0.7

Help reduce depression and anxiety 3 0.1Adventure and Excitement Experience excitement 950 31.7

Enjoy different temperature than 11 0.437.6Doing something challenging 10 0.3

Experience adventure 157 5.2Dissatisfaction Ant bites, lack rest stops, unable to sight

animals44 1.5

1.5

Total 2996 100 100

Benefits Domains and Individual Benefits by visitors

Sources of dissatisfaction

Ant bites

Hot temperatures

Difficulty in sighting wildlife

Narrow trails

Lack of rest places

High entrance fees

Experiences by Visitor’s ProfileIndividual Profile

Close to Nature (%)

Escape (%)

Relaxation (%)

Learning (%)

Improve Well-being (%)

Excitement (%)

Dissatisfaction (%)

Total

Nationality Dutch American Belgian German British Swiss Canadian Austrian French Swedish Italian

34.630.726.628.626.043.535.612.948.216.735.0

10.09.4

14.76.2

11.21.6

20.50.08.9

13.015.0

23.022.617.217.417.36.5

12.34.7

25.016.722.5

38.138.735.938.043.643.523.3

9.430.450.010.0

1.90.01.62.90.30.00.00.00.05.60.0

53.049.168.859.860.061.346.699.848.233.352.5

3.22.80.02.9

13.60.05.50.00.00.0

10.0

370287

64276365

427385565440

Sex Male Female 28.1

31.49.39.6

17.620.5

34.840.3

1.31.6

60.957.1

2.42.1

1143 757

Occupation Student Teachers/ Researchers Volunteers Professionals Clergy Travel operators Retiree Homemaker

31.633.018.827.827.319.628.0

0.0

7.57.5

13.213.527.312.0

0.025.0

18.918.022.918.69.1

13.028.025.0

32.636.838.948.027.326.152.025.0

2.20.31.41.39.10.00.00.0

66.655.061.145.745.571.744.099.0

2.24.50.02.00.00.00.00.0

832400144392

119225

4

Conclusions

Visitors’ statistics compiled by the Ghana Wildlife Department (2003-2008) suggest there is consistent increase in the number of international tourists to Owabi Sanctuary.

The finding also suggest the establishment & promotion of Owabi as national park has been largely successful.

Since learning is the second most important experience at the Sanctuary, it is fulfilling some of its core mandates

Conclusion cont’d

Visitors’ books can be particularly revealing of the on-site experiences in an ecotourism site.

Experiences encountered by eco-tourists at national parks and protected areas are mixed and diverse.

Visitors’ experiences have both positive and negative implications for the attraction.

Recommendations

National parks in Ghana should maintain good visitors’ books.

Park managers should make effort to educate visitors of some things they expect tropical forest.

Experiences of visitors in the Owabi wildlife sanctuary needs to monitored in order to continued to generate satisfied visitors

Thank You