The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of Beach Resorts to the development of coastal communities in the Central Region of Ghana. A mixed-method approach was adopted for the study. The population for this study comprised five communities selected from two municipalities and a district in the Central Region of Ghana (Brenu Akyinim and Elmina in the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abrem Municipality (KEEA), Moree in Abura/Asebu/Kwamankese District (AAK) as well as Anomabo and Ekumfi Otuam in the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly) Sample Random and Purposive sampling techniques were used to select the communities’ and respondents (Community members, Government agencies, and Resort management) for the study. The main instruments used for the study were questionnaires, Focus Group discussions and interviews. 240 questionnaires were administered, 40 by tourists and 200 by the inhabitants of the study area. Eighteen opinion leaders and management leaders in the study areas were also interviewed. The quantitative data entry and analysis were done by using the SPSS software package. The qualitative data was analysed by the use of the interpretative technique based on the themes arrived at during the data collection from the focus group discussions. It was realized that beach Resorts are a force to reckon with because the communities benefit a lot from job creation, income, infrastructure development, improvement in aesthetics, improved sanitation and many more. Education and skill training of the youth in the coastal communities is very crucial if they are to be employed and be paid well. Some of them need foreign exposure to enlighten them about the need of foreign tourists to help manage the resort facilities very well and to make their services more competitive with beach resorts in other coastal regions in Ghana and Africa at large. It is recommended that the District Assemblies and Ghana Tourist Authority should institute policies to ensure that the education of the youth in the coastal communities (study areas) are given priority and also access to financial support be made available to the local investors. Beach resort owners should liaise with Ghana Tourism Authority and the Chiefs to establish a training institution to train and update the skill of those who work in the tourism sector.

Coastal Ghana has been known to be endowed with immense tourism resources and that could be developed, to help revive the dying coastal communities. Based on this, frantic efforts were initiated by the Regional Administration of the Central Region in the 1980s to harness these resources for the growth and development of the region. This development was based on the assets and attractions that already existed which includes Cultural Heritage –chieftaincy, festivals, costumes, handicrafts, architectural styles and artefacts; Historical heritage which included forts and castles, archaeological sites, and museums; Ecological heritage like sandy beaches, swamps, mangroves, and other coastal features as well as tropical vegetation; and Tropical Climate [1]. This effort has also led to the development of several beach resorts along the coast while others are still under construction.

Resorts development are known to help in resolving poverty-related problems in several destination areas globally through employment creation, infrastructure development, beautification of the area, improvement in aesthetic decay, education, and income to the people and revenue to the Government [2]. Seaside resorts are now regarded as healthier destinations than the once-popular inland spas. In 1837, visitors going by coach to the Southern English coastal town of Brighton numbered about 50,000. This increased four-fold a week in the 1950s and to a quarter of a million visitors in 1960. The result brought a lot of development to the area [3].

Across the globe, sandy beaches, particularly those found in tropical lands are major sites for sun-sea-sand (the 3s) holidaymakers. Ghana’s coconut-fronted, sandy beaches found particularly in the western half of the country’s coastline especially in the Central region are very popular among both Ghanaian and foreign travellers. Unlike other tourism products, the country’s beaches enjoy high levels of patronage by both residents and visitors alike. Though this activity is mostly organized during weekends and other public holidays, it is an all-year affair [4]. However, in these developments, mention is made to the contribution to GDP, employment and infrastructure development without considering the effects on the environment, the cost of living as well as effects on the traditions of the people in the beach resort communities.

Though beach resorts have been developed in Ghana since1980s, no specific research has been done on such development about its effects on the economy of the region in terms of benefits and problems it creates in the environment in which resorts operate. Coastal tourism in general with more attention given to ecological problems and planning processes with the preservation of attraction [5, 6]. All these researchers did not investigate the contributions of the beach resorts in terms of job creation, income to the people, revenue to the state, education, aesthetic decay, sanitation, social vices and others.

Although coastal tourism constitutes a strong force (both negative and positive) in shaping coastal communities and local, regional and national economies, coastal tourism is generally not seen as a specific sector requiring policy planning and management attention and resources. This is due in part to the fact that data and information tend not to be gathered and aggregated on the implications of their growth and development in terms of contributions, to the communities in which they operate. Hence the magnitude and importance of leisure and recreationally motivated development, in the coastal zone tend to be understudied, understated and undermanaged. It is on this note that this study focuses on the contributions made by beach resorts (which are part of coastal tourism) to the development of coastal communities in the Central Region of Ghana. It is intended to fill a void in our knowledge of the growth and development implications of beach resorts in the Central Region of Ghana. The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of Beach Resorts to the development of coastal communities in the Central Region of Ghana. The study was guided by this research objective - Examine the differential contributions made by beach resorts to the development of coastal communities in the Central Region and their linkages with the local economies.

1.1. Conceptual Framework

Figure 1

A framework for assessing the socio - economic impact of tourism development [8]

The framework in Figure 1 explains the implications of beach resort development in the Central region of Ghana. Beach resorts and tourism in general can be used as a tool to unlock development opportunities in the coastal areas of the Central region. This is because it leads to the development of attractions; accommodation facilities; supporting facilities like souvenirs and other supplying a general range of goods like pharmacies, food shops or clothing shops; and infrastructure like public utilities such as electricity and sewerage disposal [7]. Much of these infrastructures will also serve the resident population’s other needs. This development is what tourist comes to spend on. The structure is referred to as the spectrum of development. The spectrum of development will give rise to numerous benefits and cost to the region. The benefits include income to the people engaged in the activities of resorts, for example, resort staff, souvenir sellers’ farmers, transport operators, traditional dancers, fishermen and many others. Also, there would be foreign income which is needed by the state to redress the balance of payment problems.

Another benefit is job creation. This is both at the development stage when plants and facilities are being constructed and the operational stage when they are being used by the guests. At this second stage, jobs would be created for staff of the facilities, transport sector workers, souvenir dealers, fishermen, farmers, restaurant operators, waste management organizations and many more. The employment will give income to the people who may also be ploughed back into the sector for further development and there will be a multiplier effect in the economy of the coastal areas of Central region. The farmers, craft-dealers, and textile producers can increase their production since there is market for their produce. The local people may invest in the resort and other tourism businesses directly or become shareholders leading to a reduction in the leakage effect. This will further lead to sustainable development.

The benefits from beach resort development will lead to an increase in revenue for the government and the local authorities. This is because the developers of resorts and other tourist facilities as well as various workers will pay tax to the authorities. This would be used to provide the needed infrastructure for the communities, therefore contributing to a solution of developmental problems.

To add to the above, the development of beach resorts will lead to beautification of the environment and make it more attractive and modern. This is because both local and foreign architectural designs would be put up, drainage systems and roads would be constructed, electricity, regular painting of resorts and flowering would make the beach communities a place worth visiting and that will lead to further development to attract more investors.

In a tourist region where at the initial stage there is a pioneer resort, further development will lead to the multiplication of resorts [8]. This will lead to the development of a complex hierarchical system of resorts and specialization of resorts. This will lead to an even distribution of resorts and communication systems would be at its peak at the advanced stage. At a point in time, congestion and other factors will lead to a change of guest’s direction in search of more isolated and quiet places therefore visitors will move to the periphery area which will also help the periphery to develop. This trickledown effect would lead to regional development which the government aims at. Meanwhile, sanitation of the beach environment would be improved. In most coastal communities in Ghana, beaches are used as lavatory and refuse damp. Developing beach resorts to attract tourists means a convenient place has to be made available for waste disposal so as to make the environment clean. This clean environment is helpful to the health of both residents and tourists. However, in some cases, improper disposal of sewerage from the resorts contaminates the environment leading to health hazards [9].

Moreover, the development of resorts will have cost effects on the economy of the Central region. One of such cost effects is the leakage effect in the economy which can be explained in diverse ways; for example the cost of imported goods and services used by tourists like fruits and beverages, the foreign exchange cost of capital investment in tourist facilities, payment abroad in the form of profit and capital remittances by foreign tourists companies, wage remittances by expatriate workers, interest payment on foreign loans (if any) management, royalties and other fees e.g. for franchised hotels, and payments due to foreign travel agents and tour operators [10]. In addition to what has been said so far, promotion and publicity abroad, overseas training of personnel and extra expenditure on imports as a result of those whose consumption pattern has changed due to demonstration effects of tourism would lead to leakage of financial resources abroad. This will have a strong backwash effect on the economy of the region. Moreover, beach resort development will lead to inter-sectoral competition. This is because there will be opportunity costs for other sectors of the economy as more people get employed in the tourism industry although tourism may stimulate other sectors of the economy. For example, competition for land for agriculture and tourism, as well as competition for labour in both sectors of the economy; competition for beaches for resort development and for landing beaches for fisher folks.

The effect of tourism can be felt by inflation in the coastal central region, especially during the initial stages. This is because often a supply of goods and services are not quickly responded to meet demand. Facilities and items like accommodation, land and food items are often exacerbated by tourism. The environmental cost of beach resort development cannot be left out. Thus the beauty of the natural ecology may be destroyed. This is because sometimes trees are cut down in order to build these resorts. Sand is wined from the beach for construction works leading to sea erosion. Fetching of the earth to fill the foundation stage of buildings and other purposes leave pits bear. Water may collect into it and breed mosquitoes whose bite affects the health of the inhabitants.

Meanwhile the development of beach resorts and tourism in general leads to social vices like prostitution, smoking, improper dressing and robbery. The reason is that as tourists visit the destinations, they practice their home culture which in most cases is contrary to the tradition of the destination area. American males put on ear-ring which is a custom of females in Ghana, smoking and alcoholism etc. are unacceptable social-cultural practices in Ghana. As the tourist practice all these and others, the Ghanaian youth see it as ‘modernism’ and copy it blindly. This adulterating the traditional culture therefore would lead to the rejection of tourists though they are accepted at the initial stage.

The final stage discusses the beneficiaries of the development. Thus the benefactors include the developers, promoters, operators and employees in the tourism sector. These are directly engaged in the development process. Also, there are other residents and enterprises who may not be directly engaged in any tourist activity but whose lives may be affected by the expansion of beach resorts. Many of the indirect costs, such as the diversion of capital, land and labour and tourist-induced inflation, may be felt by this sector of the community, although benefits may be experienced as well, notably through the multiplier effects [12]. The public authorities may be development agents, but it is useful to distinguish them from the private sector because the nature of their benefits and costs may differ significantly from those of the private sector. Most of the direct costs are borne by the tourist through payment for the services they demand. Though they also benefit, this is not monetary [11]. Also when international tourism pushes up prices, extra charges may be incurred by the domestic holidaymakers. These benefits and costs will be felt by beach resort communities.

A mixed-method approach was adopted for the study. The population for this study comprised five communities selected from two municipalities and a district in the Central Region of Ghana (Brenu Akyinim and Elmina in the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abrem Municipality (KEEA), Moree in Abura/Asebu/Kwamankese District (AAK) as well as Anomabo and Ekumfi Otuam in the then Mfantseman Municipal Assembly) Sample Random and Purposive sampling techniques were used to select the communities’ and respondents (Community members, Government agencies, and Resort management) for the study. These communities were selected because of their accessibility, popularity of the community and the resort, as well as the size of the facility, patronage and the products were considered. Also, the selection considered first-class resorts, mostly the urban resorts, second-class resorts basically peri-urban resorts and third-class resorts which for this study are the rural and less developed resorts. Thus, the selection was hierarchical.

Also, the communities were chosen to represent urban, peri-urban and rural places as mentioned earlier and two resorts were selected from Elmina to represent urban facilities. At the same time, they were resorts well-endowed with a lot of facilities, easily accessible and well-known beach resorts internationally as compared with others in the study area. Elmina Beach Resort is one of the oldest in the region whiles Coconut Grove Hotel is a well-known resort though established only 28 years ago. The main instruments used for the study were questionnaires, Focus Group discussions and interviews. 240 questionnaires were administered, 40 by tourists and 200 by the inhabitants of the study area. Eighteen opinion leaders and management members in the study areas were also interviewed. The quantitative data entry and analysis were done by using the SPSS software package. The qualitative data was analysed by the use of the interpretative technique based on the themes arrived at during the data collection from the focus group discussions.

This section presents results and discussions on the contributions of the various beach resorts in the development of their communities. It also looked at the linkages of beach resorts with the local economy in terms of what items they procure from the local market and their social contribution. How do the linkages boost the market for the local economy and help them to obtain income to meet their needs?

3.1. Tourism and community development

From the field work (Table 1) conducted by the researcher realized that 28(14%) of the respondents said that tourism had not brought any development into their communities and 1.5% were silent. Meanwhile, 84.5% of the respondents said yes tourism had brought development into our communities and they gave reasons for saying that. The table 2 explains their reasons.

The responses to the contributions of beach resorts include the market for our goods 38(19%). The 20(10%) respondents said that their communities obtained revenue and this was used to provide infrastructure for the communities. An example of such a community is Brenu Akyinim where the resort is owned by the community and income from it is used solely for development projects in the community. In addition, 40(20%) respondents said that beach resorts and tourism in general created employment for the youth in the area, while 33(16.5%)of the respondents said that beach resorts host programmes which bring a lot of tourists into their communities, who also create a market for their goods. Also, 44(22%) respondents said that ownership of the beach resorts provides infrastructure like libraries, streetlights, toilet facilities, market stalls etc. to their communities. The rest are sponsorship to brilliant but needy students, festivals, vacation classes for senior high school students, Christmas parties and many more. In all the communities visited, similar responses were given however, vacation classes and Christmas parties were exclusive features of Coconut Grove Hotel in Elmina. Anomabo Beach Resort provided street lightBrenu Akyinim Resort and Elmina Beach Resort both provided toilet facilities to their communities while Coconut Grove Hotel and Anomabo Beach Resort had built libraries for their communities. Nevertheless, the estimated costs of such projects were not available but photographs of some of the projects can be seen in the photo gallery (figures 2 to 7).

Figure 2

A public bathhouse built by Brenu Beach Resort at Brenu Akyinim

Figure 3

A public toilet facility built by Brenu Beach Resort at Brenu Akyinim

Figure 4

An ICT center built by Anomabo Beach Resort

Figure 5

A market built by Brenu Akyinim Beach Resort

Figure 6

A community library at Moree, built by a visitor (a regular visitor to Moree Beach Resort)

Figure 7

A new palace under construction built by Coconut Beach Resort, Elmina

3.2. Contributions of Beach Resorts to Community Development

To be sure of the benefits that the people derive from the resort business the above question was twisted and the responses are explained in table 3. The data response showed that 102(51%) of the respondents were of the view that beach resorts contribute to job creation in their communities, 29(14.5%) had the opinion that when they host a programme, it brings a lot of people into their communities and this, in addition, create e-market for their goods and further create employment for them. Also, 29(14.5%) held that they have nice places like conference rooms, restaurants and big compounds to host community programmes like weddings and funeral refreshments. Besides they provide facilities for entertainment and relaxation as part of the hosting programme. the respondents were of the view that beach resorts sponsor community programmes like festivals, annual children’s parties as well as communal labour, and projects like community Library, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centres, school buildings, KVIPs, market stalls, waste containers etc. as it has been explained earlier (refer to previous page).

Table 4 shows the responses about how beach resorts contribute to the beautification of the research community. The data showed that 47% of the respondents from Anomabo, 20% from Akyinim, 16.6% from Elmina, 32% from Otuam and 38% from Moree said that it contributes to a clean environment. In addition, 36.6% of participants from Moree, 52% from Otuam, 70% from Elmina, 20% from Akyinim and 16.6% from Anomabo admitted that beach resort structures are beautiful and it opens up the communities. Others expressed that flowers around the resort beautiful the area while some respondents from Moree (6.7%), Elmina (6.7%), Brenu Akyinim (20%) and Anomabo (20%) alleged that the activities of the resorts expose their communities to the outside world. This brings in a lot of visitors into their communities of which the residents benefit a lot.

Data responses to the above theme showed that 25% of male participants alleged that resort development leads to a clean environment, while 30% of female respondents supported the opinion on other male counterparts. Also, 45% of males and 40% of females expressed that the resort structure itself is beautiful and that it brightens the communities, this also gives the communities a face-lift and even makes them known to the outside world. Meanwhile, 6% of both male and female respondents explained that employment of the youth by the resort help beautify the environment. This was in the sense that it reduces the rate of social vices committed by the youth in the communities like Anomabo, and Brenu Akyinim. It was obvious for Anomabo and Brenu Akyinim to have said that because about 90% of the staff of beach resorts in both communities were local inhabitants. Thus beautiful in this sense is not physical but psychological. People of Anomabo said in the focus group discussion that for senior high school graduates, so far as they applied for job in the resort; there would surely be a place for them. Therefore, the youth are engaged and don’t have time to indulge in any social vice. The Management of Anomabo Beach Resort in an interview made this comment:

The contribution of the resort to the community can be seen in terms of jobs created for 76 members of the community which is 80% of resort staff, as well as the creation of jobs for others like market women, craftsmen, batik-tie and- dye makers and the taxi drivers whose services are employed by the hotels around as well as the cultural troupe from the community. Through that they are able to obtain income to meet their needs therefore reducing poverty in the community. In addition to the above, we have donated 15 computers to Anomabo M/A JHS, sponsored an ICT centre at Methodist school and a Library for the community as well as sponsorship to the brilliant but needy students. We intend to give sponsorship in education to locals and to provide facilities that will enhance their education, by so doing they will get good jobs and help to eradicate poverty from the community. We further intend to increase the employment rate to 90% for the community members.

At Brenu Akyinim, it was discovered that there are two separate resorts but very close. One of the resorts is for a private developer who happened to be a resident and a former manageress of the community resort. The second resort is the community’s own. The manager of the community resort informed that:

All the staff of the community resort are local inhabitants but some of the workers in the other resorts are strangers. Contributions of the resort is seen in the jobs created for the youth, revenue which is used to develop the community, street-light, toilet facilities (Plate 2) and enlightenment of the youth. The resort management has the intention to allow other investors to come in to partner in the business so that it can become more effective.

Responses to the interview conducted at Coconut Grove Hotel were not different from that of Anomabo. This was because the management said:

The contributions of the resort are numerous and include scholarships, sponsorship of festivals and charity homes, and employment to the youth (that is 90% of our staff are from Elmina town while the rest are from nearby communities like Bronyibima, Ankaful, Ntranoa and Cape Coast). Others are tourist attractions to the community, development projects, ready markets for their products, library, sports, raised the image of the town, street-light and many more. We further intend to increase the scholarship package to promote education, support the needy, to implement good market strategies for more business tourists to patronize the product so as to create more jobs and reduce poverty in Elmina and its environs. Meanwhile, we recycle plastic waste but the district assembly comes for the rest of the waste so we contribute to improvement in sanitation too.

At Elmina Beach Resort, the management said this:

Sixty percent of the resort staff are from Elmina town and when extended to cover Cape Coast, it adds to 80% of the staff. The contribution of the beach resort to the local economy can be seen in the building of schools for the community, clean-up exercises, sponsorships of various kinds, employment, and income to the people which help in poverty reduction, market expansion and many more. We also intend to expand our operations so as to employ more people therefore contribution will be high, purchasing level will go up so as to benefit the community. Also, we intend to promote the transfer of knowledge and culture and be able to revive the Elmina community through exchange programmes. Meanwhile, we pay Zoomlion Ltd to dispose of our waste for us. Thus we keep waste containers around the resort in which waste is dumped together with the residents around and when it is full, then Zoomlion Waste Management Company will come and empty it.

Ekumfi Otuam (Awaa waa Etuu) Beach Resort management explained that:

Our contribution is seen in food provided to workers during communal labour, little employment, and opening up the place to the outside world. However, when visitors come, some of them express interest in some students and sponsor them. This is because the resort is opposite Methodist Basic School in the community and visitors take the opportunity to interact with both teachers and students. This helps them to know of their need and therefore find means to assist them. We have the intention to dig bore-holes in the community so as to improve water access to the people, and to sponsor some brilliant but needy students. The resort practices the dig-and-dump method of waste disposal so as to help control sanitation problems in the community.

The manageress at Moree Beach Resort also said this:

“Apart from the employment, (that is 50% of the staff are from Moree town) and book donation made to the local secondary school, we have done nothing and have nothing to do since the community has no chief and they are not organized”.

Responses from various management of the resorts in the study area indicate that in all the resorts, over 50% of the staff are from the resort communities and this creates employment for a large number of youth in the study area. Apart from employment in the resorts, various groups of people like farmers, fishermen, artisans, drivers and others are employed. In addition, the resorts have proper means of waste disposal, unlike the community members who dump waste indiscriminately. Therefore, resorts contribute to improvement in sanitation which goes a long way to improve the health of the inhabitants. Should these be continued the study area will see improvement in livelihood since education to the brilliant but needy students will help enlightens the youth and give jobs to them. This will further enable them to refrain from social vices in society as the adage goes, ‘the devil finds work for the idle hands’.

From table 6, out of 200 (100%) respondents 58.5% agreed that beach resorts have helped them to acquire infrastructure for example; tarred road and electricity from Ayensudo to Brenu Akyinim was sponsored by CEDECOM when they constructed beach resort at Brenu Akyinim. Tarred road, pipe-borne water and electricity from hotel junction (Anomabo) to Anomabo Beach Resort were constructed by the owner of the resort. Also most of the infrastructures found in Elmina were as a result of beach resorts and tourism in general. Meanwhile 41.5% of the respondents were of the view that beach resorts had not helped their communities in any way.

The field report indicated that 100% of the respondents from Anomabo, 72% from Brenu Akyenim, 90% from Elmina 68% from Otuam and 73% from Moree had seen development in their communities since the beach resorts were developed. In all the communities most of the responses were in favour of beach resort development. At Anomabo, all the respondents said beach resort development had helped them to see development. However, 32% of participants from Otuam and 19% from Moree said that they have not seen any development in both periods. These two communities are new in the resort business. They have only one resort each and this development is recent; as a result, the respondents believe that they have not seen any development as compared to Elmina where such development has been in existence for a long. Therefore, it could be said that more development of resorts will bring improvements to society as it is in the case of Cancum.

The field report showed that 29.5% of the respondents said that beach resorts do not buy anything from the locals, however, 70.5% of the respondents answered in the affirmative that beach resorts purchased food items from the local shops. From Elmina and Otuam almost all the respondents 56(28%) out of 60(30%) and 21(10.5%) out of 25(12.5%) respectively said that the resorts patronized local goods. In all the study communities more than half of the respondents responded in affirmative. The type of food items they purchase are listed in Table 9.

Table 9 illustrates food items and other local commodities that are patronized by the beach resorts in the local community. From the table, all the communities responded that they had seen the resort management buy seafood from the locals or have sold seafood to the management themselves. This was said by 40% from Moree, 48% from Otuam, 35% from Elmina, 36% from Brenu Akyinim and 26% from Anomabo. In addition, 32% from Anomabo, 16% from Akyinim, 16.7% from Elmina, 8% from Otuam, and 3.3% from Moree supported the opinion that they purchase fruits from the local market. It was also said that the management of the resorts purchased cereals and grains including corn dough and kenkey from the local market. This was said by 15% of respondents from Moree, 8.3% from Anomabo, 8% from Brenu Akyinim, and 4% from Ekumfi Otuam. Of the Participants, 25% from Elmina, 24% from Otuam, and 6.7% from Moree supported the opinion that resort management buys a variety of foodstuff from them. It is only Elmina (8.3%) and Moree (1.7%) that vegetables are bought. This contributes to job creation for many people and helps reduce poverty in the study area.

Table 10 indicated that vegetation like coconut trees; mangroves, shrubs and grasses were cleared before the construction of the various beach resorts thus 80% of respondents from Anomabo, 68% from Brenu Akyinim, 77% from Elmina, 64% from Otuam and 65% from Moree affirmed this. Meanwhile, 20% each from Anomabo and Elmina, 24% from Brenu Akyinim, 28% from Otuam, and 35% from Moree believe that no vegetation was really destroyed and that resort development has not led to environmental degradation. Lastly, 8% of participants from Otuam and Akyinim and 3% from Elmina had no knowledge about the question. This could be because they were not living in the communities when resort development started.

It was revealed from the fieldwork that most of the resorts had replanted trees like coconut, ornamental plants, hedges and grasses after the construction of the facility. This was expressed by at least 72% of participants in each community while the maximum number who said that no tree has been planted was 26%. This implies that the development of beach resorts contributes to improvement in aesthetic decay, therefore, helping to improve the beauty of the environment in which they operate. It could be that vegetation was cleared to pave the way for construction work, yet after the construction, a new esthetic environment is created for serenity’s sake.

Few participants for example 10% from Anomabo, 16% from Brenu Akyinim, 23% from Elmina and 17% from Moree had realised social vices like crime in their communities since resort development started in their communities. The majority of the respondents (ranging from 77% to 100% in various communities) did not think that resort development had bred crime in their society. While the majority of the respondents said that they had not observed social vices such as prostitution in their communities, 27% of the respondents had witnessed prostitution since the development of the beach resorts. Thus in general, 84.5% of the respondents said that they had not seen social vices in their communities, whiles 15.5% of the respondents explained that they had seen social vices like prostitution, robbery, improper dressing, smoking and many more in their communities. Table 12 illustrates the responses from various communities. From the table, communities which have experienced resort development for longer periods have also realized more social vices than those with few years of experience in resort development.

Probably the traditional norms play a role in controlling social vices in the study communities. For example, when you are a deviant, people do not want to be in your company, they point accusing fingers at you, gossip etc. Before one gets married in Ghanaian society, his/her background is investigated to be sure he/she had not led or is not leading a ‘bad’ life. For example, it is investigated whether there is any alcohol or stealing, prostitution etc. in the family. If any of such vices are found within the family, the marriage arrangement would be cancelled. These serve as a guide to the youth in the society but beach resort development increases such deviant behaviours since foreigners visit the communities and some of the youth copy from them indiscriminately.

3.2.1. Responses from focus group discussions (FGD)

Focus Group Discussion was conducted in the various research communities to access the views of the people about resort development and how beneficial they are to the local communities.

We are satisfied with the beach resort in terms of jobs created due to the fact that almost all the staff are employed from Anomabo Township. This had brought improvement in the life of young people in the community because after secondary education most of the graduates who were willing to work with them were employed. In addition, the beach resort sponsored community projects like a library, ICT centre, brilliant but needy students, street-light and many more. Also, the resort staff contributes to environmental beauty. Rather degradation is normally caused by household members in the community but not the beach resort business because they are mindful of it.

At Anomabo, the focus group discussion informed that the resort development which started about 25 years ago together with other hotels around, had much impact had been made. The respondents said:

Anomabo people expressed that the development of beach resorts in their environment is a blessing than a curse. Rather community members dump waste into streams and near beaches where it was burnt by Zoomlion and Zoil workers. This shows that sanitation of the coast is a making of the inhabitants, therefore they need to be educated to refrain from it since it will help attract more tourists to the community. More tourists mean more market and job creation, more infrastructures, more income and the like.

Brenu Akyinim focus group discussion participants said:

The resort which was established 26 years ago employs only locals but the Ocean Star employs both outsiders and local inhabitants preferably family members. We believe that resort staff had not improved in any way because the salary is nothing to write home about…

That is to say; in Brenu Akyinim, though employment was offered by the resort, workers benefit a little therefore they did not see any improvement in their lives. However, I believe that half a loaf is better than none since what the staff receives though little, was able to raise them from adjusts poverty.

3.3. Relevance of beach resorts’ contributions to the study

From the analysis so far it could be said that the development of beach resorts in the Central Region of Ghana is in a positive direction. The reason is that it does not destroy the beauty of the environment; instead, it improves the aesthetic decay and sanitation of the environment. In addition, it creates employment and is able to manage social vices from getting out of hand, contribute to infrastructure development, and improve the education of the youth in the study area. Meanwhile, the management of the various resorts as well as tourists patronizes local commodities and this creates employment for the people and reduces the leakage effects in the economy.

It was realized that beach Resorts are a force to reckon with because the communities benefit a lot from job creation, income, infrastructure development, improvement in aesthetics, improved sanitation and many more. Education and skill training of the youth in the coastal communities is very crucial if they are to be employed and be paid well. Some of them need foreign exposure to enlighten them about the need for foreign tourists to help manage the resort facilities very well and to make their services more competitive with beach resorts in other coastal regions in Ghana and Africa at large. The District Assemblies and Ghana Tourist Board should institute policies to ensure that the education of the youth in the coastal communities (study areas) is given priority and also access to financial support be made available to the local investors. Beach resort owners should liaise with Tourist Board and the Chiefs to establish a training institution to train and update the skill of those who work in the tourism sector. For this to be done Ghana Tourist Board can establish agency offices, within these communities. Also, CEDECOM, a business advisory board in the region, can steer the affair of such an institution by requesting a piece of land from the appropriate community for the project. Meanwhile, beach resorts managements, the Central Regional Coordinating Council and the Government of Ghana can finance the project. This institution could be affiliated with the University of Cape Coast, the University of Education, Winneba and Cape Coast Technical University.

Author’s Contributions: Conceptualization; methodology; validation; formal analysis; investigation; resources; data curation; writing—original draft preparation; writing—review and editing; visualization; supervision; project administration. The author has read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding: “This research received no external funding”

Data Availability Statement: Data is available on request from the corresponding author.

Acknowledgements: I acknowledge the respondents for their time and patience.

Conflicts of Interest: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.” “No funders had any role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results”.