Cultural tourism and socio-economic recovery of an ex-urban community: the case of Ankos masquerade festival (Effia Kuma), in Takoradi western region of Ghana

• Autor(a) principal: Fordjour, Richmond
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/20064
• topic: Turismo cultural; Turismo criativo; Eventos culturais e criativos; Experiência turística; Impactos socioeconómicos; Festival de Ankos; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Outras Ciências Sociais

The Ankos Masquerade celebration, held every year in Takoradi, is considered a creative tourism celebration in Ghana that was cancelled entirely in the past two years due to the Covid-19 outbreak and all the travelling restrictions associated. This situation created devastating consequences for the local community. As the pandemic fades, it is anticipated that the local authorities will revive the festival to address the negative effects felt during the crisis and enhance the tourist experience to increase Takoradi's tourism potential. The Ankos Festival is a cultural and creative event conceptually rooted in the concepts of Cultural Tourism, Creative Tourism, and the ability these types of tourism products have to produce socioeconomic benefits for the host communities and the tourism destinations where they occur. Thus, the primary goal of this dissertation is to study the case of the Ankos Masquerade Festival, a significant cultural event in Takoradi, Ghana, to assess its ability to function as a socioeconomic lever for the Takoradi community after the Covid-19 crisis. A mixed method approach was used to address the research goals and study the demand and supply sides. A survey was conducted to explore the perceptions of the tourists participating in the Ankos Festival. To assess the stakeholder's perceptions, semi-structured interviews were conducted. In this sense, both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used. The study's results allowed tracing the visitor's profile to the Ankos Festival and understanding the perceptions of the demand for this event. The stakeholders' perceptions about the festival were also evaluated. The set of these data allowed the conclusion that cultural events, such as the Ankos Festival, are essential for the maintenance of local cultural traditions and the preservation of the local community identity. But they also strongly impact the image of the destination, the tourist experience and the involvement of participants, having the ability to provide socio-economic development for the destination.