HOHOE Municipal Assembly (HoeMA) has given fresh impetus and a very big shoot in the arm to the Local Economic Development (LED) strategy, the core objective of the national Local Governance and Decentralization and Development (LG&DD) framework with an upcoming Tourism and Investment Expo, 2022.
MCE
The Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr. Noble Daniel Yao AWUME told Business and Financial Times tourism desk scouts in an interview yesterday at Hohoe , the Municipal Capital (MC) that HoeMA attaches to local governance and has been an active pathfinder and pacesetter with cutting edge policies and projects as a peerless local government model in tourism development and local economic development (LED) in general , essentially to promote community needs-owned accelerated and rapid socio-economic development and transformation, since the commencement of the national local government and decentralization framework in the 80s and is neither reneging nor looking back on the commitment.
Tourism & Investment Expo
The MCE disclosed that in furtherance of the above commitments and as a leading light in assembly-wide tourism development and local government practices, the assembly has evaluated its development strategies over the years, including the effects and fallouts from the corona virus (covid-19) pandemic disruption and its aftermath, deem it necessary to organize the Hohoe Tourism and Investment Expo 2022 , to assemble its strategic development partners and stakeholders, to brainstorm on the way forward to restore, reconstruct, return to growth paths as well as chart strategies to reposition for rapid and improve development paths.
The expo according to the MCE is scheduled for 14th to 18th April, at Hohoe Stadium in the Municipal Capital.
The high profile tourism and investment expo would assemble captains of industry and investors, public and private sector stakeholders, traditional authorities among other identified key actors.
Collaborators
The expo is being organized by the Hohoe Municipal Assembly in collaboration with 24-City Fair, an events company, whilst key and strategic partners include the Office of Member of Parliament (MP), Hohoe, Ministry of and Minister of Railways Development (MMORD), Mr. John Peter Amewu, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), and the Office of Municipal Business Resource Centre (BRC) and others.
… Innovates & repositions as In’t model destination-MCE
- Noble Daniel Yao AWUME the Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), in a related development also told Business and Financial Times tourism desk scouts in an assessment tour at the Hohoe Stadium and the Municipality as a whole, to assess its readiness for the upcoming tourism and investment expo yesterday at Hohoe , the Municipal Capital (MC) that the Assembly has revised its tourism development strategy and would in the coming days launch the new and improved “Hohoe-The New National Garden City-Destination”, project, to consolidate the previous gains as well as reassert the Municipality’s accolade as the foremost national model eco-tourism destination in the country and beyond.
HoeMA has been at the forefront of assembly-wide initiated tourism development initiatives in the country over the years, especially from 2004 to date.
The outstanding innovative unique tourism and general local economic development (LED) is very popular with the inhabitants in the Municipality, which enjoys great support and active participation from the chiefs and people in the area.
MCE
The unassuming innovative and development proactive conscious MCE disclosed that tourism is at the centre of and so crucial to the area’s LED and socio-economic transformation and the assembly has accordingly reposed high confidence in tourism as the crucial key and frontline catalyst to its need based LED and overall socio- economic development and transformation.
Review
The MCE, who is barely a year old in office said the assembly has evaluated and refined its tourism development blueprint and would soon re-launch its new and improved-innovate tourism development strategy that would consolidate the area’s reputation as a peerless national and international community-owned model destination and more.
Outlook
Hohoe is a mountainous and forest shaped assembly with Hohoe as its Municipal (Capital MC) in the Volta Region, on the Region’s Northern corridor border with the Oti Region.
The MC Hohoe is a very vibrant and strategic commercial town, which also shares common boundaries externally with the Republic of Togo and internally with other sister assemblies including Afadjato South, Kpando, Guan and Biakoye.
The area is very synonymous with the Borbor Music, evergreen and lofty waterfalls including the evergreen and popular Wli Waterfalls that stands out as West Africa’s tallest waterfalls, Tagbo Waterfalls, Sasadu waterfalls, Afadjato and others.
Hospitality facilities & plants
Hohoe the capital of the Municipality and other towns in the Municipality boast of and have a number of star rated hospitality facilities to cater and provide for the accommodation, catering and entertainment needs of visitors to the area and beyond.
Notable among these facilities are Pak Greenhill, Hampton Resorts, Majestic Vile, Concordia lodge and Kikis Court hotels. The rest include Adom, Afegame, Agumatsa Falls Lodge, Big Foot Safari Lodge, Danny-Tof, Evergreen, Galazy, Geduld, Grand, Grans, Hotel De-Pasmay, Hotel Demork, Hotel Neil-Sheila, Jamesford, Kada, I M Greater Grace, Mac Hill, Marvin, Muntala’s Guest House, Nakvic Hotel and Nuku’s Executive House.
Others are Obamax Gardens, Pacific Guest House, Pique Nique Guest House, Sancoway, Star Villa, Taste Lodge, Universe Guest House, Victory Guest House, Wli Water Heights and Yesu Ko Guest House are among hospitality and catering facilities in the area to provide and cater for the accommodation, catering and entertainment needs of visitors to the area and beyond. Others are in nearby sister assemblies as Kpando, Afadjzato South, Ho-West and the Regional Capital of the Volta Region including Volta Serene, Chances and Wezor.
The Evergreen Wli Waterfalls, at Wli near Hohoe in HoeMA stands out as West Africa’s tallest waterfalls, has over the years become is the foremost patronized eco-tourism destination in the Volta Region number and other prominent attractions in the Region made the Region the preferred choice among environmentalists, plant medicine researchers and others
Defective Law
The Cultural Industry is tourism’s foremost unique selling point and therefore indispensable in holistic tourism development and growth, strangely failure of the framers of the Tourism Act 2011, Act 817, failed, relegated and neglected Chiefs and Traditional Authorities ,the tourism custodians of our cultural heritage and strategic and major players in tourism development in the current national tourism legislation and for that matter the industry as a hole is one major defect on the current tourism legal regime (NTL&LR), that is the cause of tourism sector’s not too impressive output and need urgent ratification.
Model Assemblies
Against the omissions and the shortcomings in the current national tourism law and legal regime, a number of tourism conscious and development proactive assemblies stand tall as national model tourism destinations, who have initiated and are implementing a number of diverse assembly-wide tourism development projects across the country.
Notable among these tourism development assemblies include the Anloga District Assembly, (ADA), the Ada East District Assembly, (AEDA), the Afadjato South District Assembly (ASDA) and the Hohoe Municipal Assembly (HoeMA).
Others are Effutu Municipal Assembly,(EMA), Kwahu South Municipal Assembly,(KSMA), Agotime-Ziope District Assembly (AZDA), Akatsi South Municipal Assembly,(ASMA), Keta Municipal Assembly,(KMA), Kintampo North Municipal,(KNMA) Komenda-Edna-Eguafo-Abirem Municipal Assembly (KEEAMA) and Sekyere-Kumawu District Assembly (SKDA) assemblies all stand apart from the rest as remarkably tourism sensitive and very proactive with a number of cutting edge and diverse assembly wide tourism development initiatives across the country.
The Writer is Tourism, Brands & Branding, Communication & Marketing Consultant, Practitioner, Analyst, Advocate & Activist
