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By Taiye Olayemi
The desire to go on honeymoon after the consummation of marriages is every couple’s dream. Beautiful destinations and exotic getaways suitable to cater for honeymoon adventures continues to spring up across the African continent.
Honeymoon has lots of therapeutic effect on couples who engage in it as it gives room for ultimate relaxation after going through the stress of planning and executing wedding ceremony.
Honeymoon also allows for the couple to bond well enough before resuming back to their various official duties.
The recently concluded 6th AccraWeizo West Africa Travel and Tourism Market revealed choice honeymoon destinations across Ghana.
Ghana, which covers an area of about 238,535 km2 (92,099 sq mi), spanning diverse biomes that range from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests, has been naturally endowed with many go-to-see potential to accomodate tourists for holiday and honeymoon purposes.
With over 32 million inhabitants, Ghana is the second most populous country in West Africa, after Nigeria.
The 6th AccraWeizo came alive again from May 23 to 27, 2023 after three years hiatus due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, with the theme “Tourism Development Through Digitalisation”.
It began with familiarisation tours to tourists destinations within Akosombo and Accra cities like the Royal Senchi resorts, the Peninsula Resort and Golf Club as well as the Accra City Hotel.
These destinations are strategically designed to attract tourists due to the unusual African architectural designs put in place to give aesthetics.
According to Emmanuel Mensah, Sales and Marketing Manager of the Royal Senchi Resort, the facility is the first four-star luxury resort in Ghana.
Mensah said it is a destination suitable for honeymoon because of its serenity, romantic ambience, lush greenery with a magnificent view of the famous Volta River.
He said the resort stands on 35 acres of lush greenery and a unique blend of fauna, flora, traditional architecture, and modernity of the highest standards.
“The Royal Senchi is known as West Africa’s most romantic hotel destination. We are also an ideal venue for business meetings, conferences, and other special events.
“We have 84 rooms, 74 are standard rooms, nine suites and one presidential room for the Very Important Personalities (VIP).
“Due to the quality of our services, we have won a number of coveted awards,” he said.
Mensah urged more Africans to visit the resort because of the therapeutic nature of most of the materials used in putting up the facility.
For instance, instead of the usual cement and glass for the construction, woods and rafia produce were used for mental and psychological healing to visitors.
“We are looking at adding much more activities for tourists on the resort, like ziplining, playground for kids, canopy walkway, luxury tents, additional swimming pool and more.
“Maintaining this resort has not been easy, we engage in serious maintainance annually, serious hard work goes into this; we import treated thatch from South Africa every year, to replace the old ones.
“We are committed to greenery and environmental issues, also very soon we will stop supplying plastic bottled water, but glass bottled water,” he said.
Also, the Peninsula Resort in Akosombo, known as a destination to discover serenity, is a relaxing countryside retreat that invites individuals to escape the hustling lifestyle of the city life.
This is located amidst the majestic Akosombo mountains on a sprawling country estate where hiking and canopy walk are most suitable.
Mr Robert Thompson, General Manager, The Peninsula Resort, said the resort offers a charming blend of classic style, elegant comfort, spectacular views and rich natural heritage.
According to Thompson, the Peninsula Resort sits on a 300-acre of land, endowed with a lake, serene atmosphere, hills, and hiking capacity of two kilometres, among others.
He said the longest canopy walkway in West Africa is also located at the resort which is about 550 metres long.
He added that the management of the resort was planning to upgrade its facilities by constructing apartments for long and short stay accommodation to make it a one-stop resort.
According to him, other attractive activities that tourists can enjoy at the resort include archery, swimming, horse riding, lawn and table tennis, as well as golf and boat cruise.
Accra City Hotel, Ghana’s first internationally branded Hotel in 1988 and first ISO certified hotel in West Africa, could also cater for honeymoon adventures with about 196 well-furnished guest rooms ranging from Queen-size to studio units.
Mr Ekow Sampson, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), during the conference session of the tourism expo, said Ghana has many more choice destinations for honeymoon and conferencing.
The expo which seeks to improve seamless travels across the West African region had in attendance delegates from different countries, exhibiting series of travel and tourism products.
Mr Ikechi Uko, organiser of the expo, advised Africans to intensify efforts toward working unanimously to achieve seamless travels across the continent.
Uko said West Africans with over 400 million people, are seen to be among the most travelled across the world. And if formidable synergies are created to make West Africa a domestic market for all, Africa will be taking its pride of place globally.
“What we can achieve together is amazing but unfortunately, we have not explored well enough. If only 10 per cent of West Africans can be made to travel within the region, we will be making fortune as Africans.
“A lot of countries get their travelling population from West Africa; we must stop the usual numerous check points on our roads to improve seamless travels,” he said.
