Tourism amid COVID-19 pandemic: impacts and implications for building resilience in the eco-tourism sector in Ghana's Savannah region

Abstract

The novel coronavirus which first emerged in Wuhan, China has affected many sectors of the global economy particularly, the tourism sector. While prior studies have explored how pandemics and crisis in the tourism sector can be managed, only a few have tackled how the tourism industry, especially in developing countries can be restructured to withstand shocks and remain resilient in the face of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic in the future. This article sheds light on the socio-economic and ecological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ecotourism sector of Ghana's Savannah region while offering short and long term strategies for building resilience to withstand shocks. Between September and October 2020, data was collected in the tourism enclave of the Savannah region in Ghana using focus group discussions and interviews. Results show that the major socioeconomic impact of the pandemic was the loss of livelihoods. Ecological impacts were however mixedboth positive and negative. The study concludes that socio-economic impacts have been severe because they are closely tied to tourism. The study therefore recommends that immediate measures including stimulus packages be offered to local enterprises affected by the pandemic. In the long term, efforts should be made to diversify the local economy and promote domestic tourism in the country.

Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic: Hoteliers’ Resilience

“…The underlying point is very clear. The Covid-19 pandemic is putting enormous pressure and shocks on the tourism industry which is very dependent and relies on the movement of people from one place to another (Abbas, Mubeen, et al, 2021;Singh et al, 2021;Soliku et al, 2021). With social distancing restrictions and restrictions on large gatherings, tourism activities cannot run as they used to.…”

African Tourism in Uncertain Times: Covid-19 Research Progress

“…These included inter alia, cost reduction measures through lay-offs and non-payment of remunerations, rigorous social media marketing, application for government support, and diversifying their services to activities more resilient to the pandemic's impact. In the case of ecotourism in Ghana Soliku et al (2021) point out that existing facilities are over-reliant on the international market and starting to pivot towards the promotion of domestic tourism. Certain parallels emerge with the results from South African research on the adaptive responses of local tourism businesses (Giddy and Rogerson, 2021;Rogerson, 2021;Rogerson et al, 2021).…”

Impacto de la crisis de la COVID-19 en el empleo del sector turístico en España: perspectivas territorial y de género

“…que permita, utilizando planteamientos metodológicos diferentes, técnicas cualitativas, la identificación de las causas, conectadas al territorio, que explican los procesos de resiliencia. En esta misma línea, otros colegas también señalan la necesidad de evidencias que asesoren los esfuerzos para diversificar las economías locales, dañadas por la pandemia, promoviendo con ello una práctica turística más sostenible (Soliku et al, 2021).…”