Promoting Indigenous Culture Through Tourism: A Study of the Tikali Cultural Exchange Programme in Tamale, Ghana

The increasing spate of modernization in recent times has led to many youths shunning indigenous culture in rural/suburbs of Ghana. This study assesses how local culture can be revived through tourism promotion in a destination. The Tikali Cultural Exchange Programme in Tamale is a “rural cultural tourism immersion” programme aimed at enabling tourists stay and partake in tourism in a village setting. A sample of 25 stakeholders who initiated the programme were contacted purposively using In-depth Interview and Focus Group Discussion guides to elicit data. Data were analysed and put into themes. The study revealed that the Tikali area has a lot of tourism potentials through the cultural products they offer. The patrons to this programme were mostly foreigners who depended mainly on word-of-mouth referrals to attractions such as homestay, traditional drumming and dancing, traditional cotton spinning, among others. Setbacks inhibiting the vibrancy of the Programme were insufficient funding and poor patronage. The study recommends that, managers of the Programme needed to focus more on a rigorous marketing drive using electronic media to advertise their products. By liaising with renowned hotels in Tamale, designed flyers can also be kept in guestrooms to entice more vacationers to visit.