The tourism industry has the potential to develop, there­fore maintaining the roads that lead to tourist sites is essen­tial to drawing both domestic and foreign visitors.

Unfortunately, several of the roads leading to popular tourist destinations are in poor condi­tion, which deters tourists from going there and ultimately affects the nation’s ability to generate income for economic growth.

The route that leads to the Kwahu Paragliding facility in the Eastern region is one area that needs improvement.

In view of that, the Kwahu Traditional Council (KTC) has urged the government through the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) to expedite action on the construc­tion of roads leading to the Kwahu Paragliding sites and other tourist sites.

The Council claims that since 2005, the roads have been in appalling condition and that the reconstruction efforts that were initiated have not yet been com­pleted.

These sentiments were raised at a media launch of the 2024 edi­tion of the Kwahu Easter Paraglid­ing festival to commemorate the Easter celebration from March 29.

The Kwahu Easter Paragliding Festival was being badly impacted by the situation, according to the Council, since many tourists were being discouraged from attending the event.

The chiefs contend that if the issue is not resolved, it may cause attendees to become less inter­ested in the festival, particularly those from the diaspora, and negatively impact revenue gener­ation.

The Spectator agrees with Kwahu Abene’s Krontihene, Nana Simpeh Owiredu II, who expressed to the media how long overdue it was to rebuild the road that leads to the paragliding locations.

The poor state of the road hin­dered the festival’s celebration, according to Deputy Chief Exec­utive Officer (CEO) in charge of Operations (GTA), Mr. Ekow Samp­son. As a result, government work to improve the road was initiated in order to guarantee convenient tourist transportation.

We join the Krontihene in pleading with the GTA to expe­ditiously complete construction in order to guarantee seamless transportation to the locations. Additionally, we request that the GTA not overlook other relevant amenities in favour of the para­gliding event.

Since the festival’s founding in 2005, it has already had a posi­tive effect on raising awareness, developing infrastructure, and creating jobs.

If the authorities took decisive action to resolve this issue more people would be encouraged to attend the event and the nation would earn more money.