ECOTOURISM POTENTIALS OF XAVI BIRD WATCHING SANCTUARY IN AKATSI DISTRICT OF GHANA

Abstract

The paper discusses an investigation into a fast emerging niche in ecotourism, bird watching or avitourism, as a pastime. The Xavi Sanctuary is a community-based resource, the largest and most popular of its kind in Ghana. A sample size of 168 respondents was obtained using the Fisher and associates (1998) formulae for calculating sample size. The analyses of results revealed that the residents of Xavi were content with the direct employment offered by the project to some members of the community within sections of the industry. However, most of them also benefited indirectly through the sale of handicrafts while others benefited from tourists’ donations to the local community and basic schools. These accruing benefits have inspired the local community to institute measures to safeguard the sanctuary in order to improve their gains. The paper suggests that promoting domestic tourism by way of awareness creation in the local media and adding more activities to help immerse visitors into the community could help boost their ecotourism potentials.