Tourism is Ghana’s third largest source of foreign exchange income and it contributes 4.5% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). The Government of Ghana has set a goal to make tourism its largest source of foreign exchange and has adopted the community-based ecotourism model developed by NCRC.

In partnership with the government and others, NCRC has provided training and technical support to rural communities with ecotour sites. However, the communities themselves retain full control, making all decisions about management and how to use the income produced.

NCRC and its partners have facilitated the development of 30 tourism destinations. Community-based tourism creates new opportunities for poor rural people to earn income that is based on the conservation of their natural resources, biodiversity and local culture. The result is an industry that now attracts over 180,000 visitors per year throughout Ghana, as well as the protection of priceless resources that might otherwise be lost. Such conservation can be the basis of long-term, sustainable livelihood improvements.

The success of this model in Ghana has prompted requests from other nations in the region, as well as recognition internationally that community-based conservation can be a critical compliment to the creation of national parks and reserves that often fail to thrive due to funding and capacity issues, as well as unresolved friction with neighboring communities.

NCRC is focusing on the following actions during the 2008-2012 period:

• Expanding Ghana’s ecotourism activities to 50 locations involving 400 rural poor communities
• Partnering with communities, the private sector and government to identify and focus ecotourism activities on the 6-8 most internationally competitive products in Ghana
• Launching the Ghana Rural Ecotourism and Travel Office (GREET) to promote the rural destinations, improve quality of visitor services and achieve targets of 500,000 visitors per year with community revenue totaling $5 million per year
• Growing the national economic impact of rural tourism for Ghana to $100 million per year