article · Discover Sustainability
In Cape Coast, Ghana, tourism creates measurable economic gains while facing distinct governance hurdles. An examination of 399 local residents and tourism businesses alongside 21 key informants reveals that tourism activities deliver statistically significant improvements in local employment and financial stability. However, thematic findings identify four critical governance challenges that hinder social equity and sustainable development: policy invisibility, weak coordination between institutions, cultural commodification, and an inequitable distribution of benefits. Although tourism drives valuable financial returns within this UNESCO World Heritage destination, these systemic management deficits undermine broader social sustainability. The findings highlight the complex trade-offs between rapid economic gains and inclusive governance, demonstrating that sustainable heritage tourism requires addressing institutional fragmentation and ensuring that the rewards of tourism reach the wider community.
Heritage tourism can significantly boost local economies, but financial gains do not automatically result in fair community development. Understanding governance failures such as weak institutional coordination and unfair benefit distribution helps policymakers and community planners design more balanced strategies. These insights allow heritage destinations to safeguard cultural value while ensuring that economic benefits are shared fairly across local populations.
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Abstract Heritage tourism destinations in sub-Saharan Africa face a persistent tension between economic growth imperatives and social equity. This study examines how stakeholder collaboration shapes sustainable tourism outcomes in Cape Coast, Ghana, a UNESCO World Heritage destination where the governance of tourism remains critically underexamined in the academic literature. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 399 community residents and tourism businesses through structured questionnaires and analysed using one-sample t-tests and Cohen’s d effect size estimates. Qualitative depth was provided by 21 purposively sampled key informants. The study found that tourism generates statistically significant improvements in financial stability (mean = 4.02; Cohen’s d = 0.80, large effect) and employment in Cape Coast. Four governance deficits emerged from thematic analysis: policy invisibility, weak inter-institutional coordination, cultural commodification, and inequitable benefit distribution. The cross-sectional design limits causal inference, and the single-destination focus constrains generalisability.
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DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-04338-8
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