Ecotourism Experiences of International Visitors of Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary, Ghana BY Francis Eric Amuquandoh Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management University 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., 1999 Dei, 2000 Akyeampong, 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 Outcome 1. Excitement 2. Learning 3. Solitude 4. Others For: 1. Preservation of Protected areas 2. Management Agenda 3. Others Feedback Loop Input-Transformation-Output Relationship

Study area

Methodology  The target population was international tourists at Owabi Sanctuary from 2003 to  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 CharacteristicsFrequencyPercent (%) Sex Male Female Nationality Dutch British North Americans Germans Austrians Canadians Belgian Swiss French Swedish Occupation Students Educationists/ Researchers Professionals Volunteers Tour operators/travel consultants Retirees Clergy Homemakers Travel profile/party size and above Profile of international tourists of Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary 31

Benefits DomainExamples of comments by visitorsFrequency Percent (%) Total (%) Being close to nature Experience nature Enjoy natural scenery EscapeExperience solitude Relaxation Rest mentally Enjoy the smell and sound of nature Help release built-up tension100.3 Learning Learn more about natural history Keep physical fit Learn more about nature341.1 Experience new and difficult things190.6 Improve Well-being Experience scene of personal freedom Help me to recover from everyday stress200.7 Help reduce depression and anxiety30.1 Adventure and ExcitementExperience excitement Enjoy different temperature than Doing something challenging100.3 Experience adventure Dissatisfaction Ant bites, lack rest stops, unable to sight animals Total 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 Profile Individual Profile Close to Nature (%) Escape (%) Relaxation (%) Learning (%) Improve Well-being (%) Excitement (%) Dissatisfactio n (%) Total Nationality Dutch American Belgian German British Swiss Canadian Austrian French Swedish Italian Sex Male Female Occupation Student Teachers/ Researchers Volunteers Professionals Clergy Travel operators Retiree Homemaker

Conclusions  Visitors’ statistics compiled by the Ghana Wildlife Department ( ) 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