Small tourism accomodation businesses in Ghana : A barrier to strategic tourism development?

Lifestyle motivations of small tourism accommodation business (STAB) owners and cultural practices in Ghana are integral to the strategic development of Ghana's tourism industry. This thesis seeks to develop rich insights into the development of the small tourism accommodation sector in Ghana. The overall aim is to enhance understanding of cultural and lifestyle practices that affect the development of small tourism accommodation businesses in Ghana by making theoretical and pragmatic contributions to existing knowledge on small tourism accommodation businesses. To achieve this, the thesis draws from a range of literature including that on small businesses, small tourism businesses, entrepreneurship and family business as well as literature on Ghana's political, economic, history and cultural context to seek a better understanding of the development of small tourism accommodation businesses in Ghana and whether they are a barrier to strategic tourism development. In addition to the above, the research, which is exploratory in nature, follows a pragmatic approach and thus uses mixed methods to explore small tourism accommodation businesses in Ghana. Empirical data for the research was gathered through interviews with six small tourism accommodation providers, survey questionnaires with 625 independent hotel owners' and seven officials of key stakeholders in tourism development (Ministry of Tourism and financial institutions) on the development of the tourism accommodation sector in Ghana. The contributory value of the thesis lies in exploring new perspectives to the understanding of the development of small tourism accommodation businesses and their role in the development of the tourism industry in Ghana. The thesis argues that, cultural practices in Ghana play an important role in shaping the motivations and objectives of small tourism accommodation business owners and the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of their facilities. Culture is a key determinant of entrepreneurial orientation and disposition and determines the relationship between external environmental factors of politics and the economy and the entrepreneurial disposition/orientation of STAB owners and the internal environmental factors of management, staffing, legal status and financing that affect the development of STABs in Ghana. Though financial and non-financial motives of small accommodation business owners reinforce each other, the non-pecuniary lifestyle motives dominate and give a social perspective to the development of small tourism accommodation businesses. The social perspectives to the development of small tourism accommodation businesses are not wholly in accord with Ghana's tourism development policies which are structured on conventional economic development models.