There is the need for more up-market hotels to tap the vast and diverse tourism potentials in the Volta Region, according to the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).

Mr Alexander Nsiah, Volta Regional Director of GTA, said that out of the 346 hotels in the region, only the Volta Serene Hotel was set to become a four-star facility.

“The majority of them are budget hotels which do not meet the expectations of the contemporary global hospitality industry,” he added.

In an exclusive interview with the Ghanaian Times in Ho during the ongoing 5th Volta Trade and Investment Fair, Mr Nsiah said that there was also the need for high-grade restaurants in the region to satisfy the taste of the teeming tourists who visited the region.

He cited the Grade-3 CEPS restaurant in Aflao, Grade-2 Gold Finger in Ho and Grade-2 Ho KCS restaurants as the only standard restaurants which met the required hospitality standards in the region.

Mr Nsiah mentioned the Adaklu Mountain, Afadzato between Gbledi and Liati-Worte, Amedzofe, the highest human settlement in Ghana at height of 2,400 feet above sea level; Tafi Monkey Sanctuary, Crocodile pond at Ave-Dakpa and Tagbo Falls as viable tourism cites which had the potential to employ many young people and change the fortunes of the region when developed to modern standards.

He entreated the private sector to liaise with institutions like the Ho Technical University to train tour guides, front-desk personnel, cooks and housekeepers to help to lift up the hospitality industry in the region to greater heights.

Mr Nsiah also mentioned the Wli Water Falls, sandy beaches of Keta, Fort Prinzenstein also in Keta; Atorkor Slave Market and the Keta Lagoon among others as great tourism assets in the region.

Meanwhile, he said that it was crucial for the roads in the region to be fixed to attract visitors to the tourism cites, pointing out that bad roads did not encourage tourism.

Mr Nsiah said that the old church buildings in the region, shrines, sub-tropical weather in Avatime and rich cultural festivals were tourism gold mines which could bring wealth to the area with the active involvement of the private sector.