Tour Guides President raises alarm over sanitation and road crisis hurting tourism

Tour Guides Association of Ghana President, Banibensu Samuel Ashford, has raised strong concerns about the impact of poor sanitation and bad road infrastructure on Ghana’s tourism experience.

In a commentary shared on Sunday, he lamented that Ghana is yet to fully appreciate that “cleanliness is a key conduit to visitor attraction.” He noted that public education on sanitation is “almost non-existent,” adding that the state of the environment continues to alarm visitors.

Ashford recounted taking tourists from Tema Harbour to Accra earlier this year. “Passing through Teshie-Nungua, one of the visitors was bold to ask, ‘Sam, why are you driving us through garbage…?’” he said, describing the moment as embarrassing and avoidable.

He further highlighted Ghana’s deteriorating roads, citing the stretch from Somanya through Okoenya to the Accra–Akosombo highway as an example. “Dodge one pothole and you land in three,” he stated, stressing that authorities should, at the very least, maintain roads leading to landmarks for a positive tourism impression.

According to him, poor road conditions, reckless driving and inadequate rest stop facilities once forced jet-arriving tourists he hosted to abandon their trip. “Their visit was cut short… Before they left, the lady described her feelings in two words: ‘Filth and poverty’,” he revealed. “The man agreed touring Accra was good and was impressed with the professional narration of our rich history etc.”

Ashford also dismissed claims that bad roads could serve as a form of adventure tourism. “Bad roads could be an adventure to some tourists,” he recounted being told by an official. “I disagreed… Adventure tourism has nothing to do with bad roads.”

He cautioned that Ghana risks losing repeat visitors if authorities do not urgently address sanitation, road access to tourist sites and other basic tourism-supporting infrastructure.

“We risk losing repeat visits if we do not gird up our loins and address the issues,” he warned, calling for serious national action to protect the country’s tourism reputation.