By Ernest Sumelong<=
br />
Cameroon could move a step ahead from just being Africa in mi=
niature to becoming a real eco-tourism country, says American eco-touris=
m expert, Jon Kohl.
Jon, who was on a brief visit to Cameroon, was speaking to journa= lists in Buea, Friday, August 22.The Costa Rica based eco-tourist, on an= American Government sponsored trip to Cameroon, will jumpstart high level discussions with officials of various Government Ministries, private operators and the local people on how Cameroon could take advantage of her rich potentials and not only become a tourism destination on the continent, but also develop eco-tourism.
Jon is one of several strategic speakers the US government is inviting
to Cameroon to discuss on issues, which the US considers as global
priority areas for its government, according to Yolanda Kerney, the
Social and Cultural Adviser at the US Embassy in Yaounde.
She stated that economic development and environment and conservation ar=
e priority areas for the US government.
"Eco-tourism is one of those areas which could easily touch both= . Jon is here at the invitation of the US because we hope that he would be able to spark a discussion between the Ministries of Culture, Forestry, the Environment and Tourism and the people of Cameroon to see whether eco-tourism might be or might not be of Cameroonian context and to see what might and might not work here," she said.
Coming from Costa Rica, considered being one of the most developed eco-tourism countries, Jon said he believes that Cameroon shares many similarities with this country, in terms of peace, hospitality and natural endowments. "One thing that immediately strikes me that was= important for Costa Rica to develop and that seems to be present here is political stability.
Though I have just been three days here, Cameroon seems to have this stability, especially when you compare with some surrounding countries. This is an important factor because the government, in its international marketing, could take advantage of that fact. Like Costa Rica, Cameroon has so much natural and cultural diversity and the government is already taking advantage of that through the country's slogan 'Cameroon; Africa in miniature'. Also, Cameroon has a large amount of forest reserve."
Eco-tourism, going by Jon, goes beyond the cultural and natural endowments, which tourists would consume. He posited that eco-tourism entails investing in and conserving natural endowments for the benefit of the local communities.
The US Embassy is identifying eco-tourism after recent efforts by the= Ministry of Wildlife to protect and conserve natural resources, especially national parks, endangered species and other forest reserves. Presently, Cameroon hosts some of the most rare animal and bird species on the globe, while some of its parks and forests have been ranked among the richest worldwide.
However, the Cameroon Government has bungled conspicuous opportunitie=
s
to invest in its wealthy tourism potentials and make Cameroon the best
tourist destination in Africa.
According to Jon, in order to develop tourism, Government must build
tourism policies and also make the country friendlier to tourists.
"Provide accurate information and a good website. I don't know if
Cameroon has tourism offices in other countries.
I don't know if Cameroon has strategic alliances with other tour operators. Those things are very helpful for people to know more about Cameroon. When people come here, there should be policies and efforts to make the country user friendly; road signage, maps, good roads, tourism guides, directory of where the good hotels are etc. then if we talk about eco-tourism in particular, certainly you want to have protected areas, park fees that could help to provide better quality."
The US Embassy's role is to provide information, invite specialists w= ho initiate discussions on issues which they identify, but it is for government and the Cameroonian people to pick and probably act on them.<= /p>
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