Ghana crashed out of the World Cup in Germany on its maiden appearance much earlier than its vociferous football fans and countrymen had wished.
The 0-3 loss to mighty Brazil and defending champions in the second round on Tuesday ended their World Cup dreams and broke hundreds of thousands of hearts.
However, authorities in the West African country are celebrating one important victory: They believe the World Cup has put Ghana on the world tourism map, a potential gold mine which President John Agyekum Kufour said must be tapped.
Ghana has been struggling to boost tourism in an effort to diversify its economy, but the rate of success has been low. Now authorities feel the country finally got on the world tourism map unexpectedly, through the heroic performance of the Ghana Black Stars.
Tourism Minister Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey said Ghana’s participation in the World Cup helps a great deal in marketing the country abroad. Many adverts shown in connection with the World Cup in the international media mention Ghana in some way.
”Ghana could not have paid for this advertisement,” Obetsebi-Lamptey said in Accra. ”When I was in London, almost every advert mentioned Ghana. Coca-Cola and other companies mentioned Ghana in their adverts.”
Ghana, rated 48 by the world soccer governing body Fifa, entered the World Cup without being given any chance of surviving the group stage.
The group had three giants — Italy, the Czech Republic and the US were — that were far ahead of Ghana in terms of the celebrity of the stars on their teams. The Czech Republic is rated number two, the US number five. Only Italy was not in Fifa’s top 10.
However, Ghana avoided an early funeral by soundly beating the Czech Republic 2-0 and the US 2-1.
But that set the Black Stars up for a match against five-time world champion Brazil, who defeated them as expected. But Ghana bowed out with their heads raised very high.
Ghanaian flags and other paraphernalia were in hot demand, according to the Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
About 250 000 miniature flags had to be flown to the Ghana Embassy
in Berlin.
Ghanaians living abroad confirm that many people are asking where the country is, an important positive side effect of the tournament.
Obetsebi-Lamptey said even though the Ministry of Tourism had made a lot of efforts to sell Ghana abroad through several means such as the Discovery Channel and adverts in the international media, Ghana’s World Cup performance in Germany had achieved what these attempts had failed to bring home.
”Tourism has a huge potential to boost the country’s economy and contribute to poverty alleviation especially in the rural areas,” he said.
With the tourism industry being the largest and fastest growing worldwide, stimulating other sectors such as agriculture, finance and manufacturing, authorities are motivated to work to earn more from the sector.
The country has felt strongly that it had what it takes to be attractive to tourists. Geographically, it can lay claim to be the centre of the world. The Greenwich Meridian passes through its port city of Tema, about 25km east of Accra, while the Equator and the Greenwich Meridian meet just south of the Ghanaian coast in
the Atlantic.
Ghana has been advertising itself as having a good array of potential attractions for visitors, having always been known for its hospitality and wide range of tourist facilities.
At the moment, tourism is considered the fourth largest source of foreign exchange earnings, estimated at $650-million in 2004.
The sector contributes about 5% of GDP, employs between 150 000 and 200 000 people directly and indirectly and is the fastest growing sector with 12%.
Statistics from the ministry indicate that tourism arrivals have steadily increased over the past 15 years from 145 000 in 1990 to about 600 000 in 2004.
The target is to increase tourism arrivals to one-million and foreign exchange earnings to $1,5-billion by 2007 and also increase domestic tourism. Another target is to create about 300 000 jobs in the sector by 2007.
The list of attractions includes Ghana’s natural environmental heritage and historical and cultural features.
Ghana is rich in wildlife and has national parks and reserves, waterfalls, a long beach on the Atlantic Ocean, sunny weather and scenic landscapes. – Sapa-DPA