Cameroon’s Tourist Industry in Ruins: Is Government the only Wet Blanket?

By Ivo Ngome

Repeatedly have we heard the government of Cameroon lamenting, perhaps pretentiously for the country’s inability to attract tourists. Multiple seminars, conferences and symposia have held in this connection purporting to transform the country overnight into a tourist destination. Self-proclaimed experts often barefacedly compare our country with well-known tourist destinations like Egypt, Kenya and Morocco saying those countries do not have more tourist resources than we do.

Truthfully, we have natural awe-inspiring sites almost omnipresent in the national territory but these are not the only things that attract tourists. The blame is always heaped upon the government for being unable to provide roads to such breathtaking areas and upon police officers for their customary ways of harassing tourists.

The intention of this paper is not to refute the above huddles to our tourist industry but to expose one of the areas where other countries, some with limited natural resources beat us hands down in this tourist business. The paper is based on the writer’s personal experience in the field.
Hotel services in Cameroon may constitute repellants to tourists more than the bad roads and police pestering habitually blamed for daunting visitors from visiting striking sites.

Last month I was collecting data in the West Province of Cameroon to develop a scientific paper. During my expedition, I did not only have enough money in my pocket but was willing to pay for a nice time. Though I was working in typically rural areas (volcanic lake regions and pristine savanna zones), I lodged in the best available hotels in the biggest towns in the West: Bandjoun, Bagante, Foumban, Foumbot, Bafoussam and Dschang. Those who have visited these towns know they all have relatively admirable road networks.

The first repulsive observation I made in most hotels that I visited was the manner of reception they accord their guests. Very often, guests alighting from cars are expected to carry their luggage all by themselves into the reception room of these hotels. It is not uncommon for the receptionist to be out of office for hours and even when present, customers are often treated lethargically and sluggishly.

By the way, receptionists in most hotels are often either old tired men who appear to have exhausted all other economic sectors of production, or are young people who seem to have no alternative way to make ends meet. Most are untutored for the job, usually appearing dishevelled, some unable to express themselves neither in proper English nor French thus making communication difficult with clients. The implication is that most visitors begin enduring the nuisance of staying in a hotel right from the hotel gates (for those of them that have the luxury of a fence).

The carrying of luggage by clients does not end at the level of the reception but continues as the receptionist takes you around, showing you rooms from which to choose. Making a choice of a room to stay in is often the most difficult stage of installation for most tourists. The rooms are often old, small and air tight. Windows are usually very tiny, located at angles that minimize the opportunity for ventilation. Then, the window blinds usually look forgotten, heavy with dirt and because of their usually small sizes, only partially cover dirty and often broken windowpanes. Since all the rooms suffer from about the same predicaments, one client may have to see all rooms before managing to decide on which one to take.

Once in the room where a client is expected to lie and rest is supposed to be of utmost hygienic condition. Regrettably, what I noticed in most hotels in the West Province is that their beds are often revolting. Majority of the hotels insist on using white bedspreads; one is unsure whether this is a ministerial prescription but the beddings left much to be desired with manifest lines of map like features on most of them. Again, it may constitute a whole topic for research if one were to determine the causes of such “drawings”. Aware of the possibility of this misdemeanour, I did not forget to include a personal bedspread in my traveling bag, which I always spread over the hotel provided one. This act often punctuated my hard earned sleep as I frequently got up to make sure that I have not wandered beyond the fringes of my coverlet. What a duty for a tourist!

Those who have had the opportunity of lodging in hotels around the country are aware of the trauma that comes with using most hotel toilets and baths. These are the most disgusting, horrible and sickening features I had to put on with throughout my expedition in the West. Aside from the customarily dirty and old toilet pots, windows are extremely rear entitlements in most hotel toilets. As a consequence, the toilets are often hermetically sealed with a permanent pungent, irritating smell. The toilet walls are also often dreadfully murky so that instead of enjoying a bath, one concentrates on how to avoid the walls.
Nevertheless, this filthiness does not affect hotel prices in Cameroon, which are described by many clients as unjustifiably expensive. For instance, it has become a norm in the country that drinks sold in hotel bars must necessarily be more expensive than those sold in ordinary off-licences, even though hotel bars often provide no extra services.  Room prices usually vary with customer looks; clients alighting from cars or seeming to have come from far afield often have a different price from those who stroll in. With this in mind, one can only imagine the price augmentation that the skin colour of some customers may attract and the feeling of frustration that such clients may be forced to stomach.

The above picture should neither tint nor dilute the good works of some hotels, which are quite palatable to stay in. Sorry to say, I did not see any of such during my outing in the West Province. Appealing hotels seem to concentrate in Cameroon’s giant cities and resort towns such as Yaounde, Douala, Limbe and Kribi. But these towns do not have all awesome sites worthy of tourist visitation. There is need for tourists to travel to the hinterlands and visit our lakes, caves, mountains, waterfalls, rich biodiversity, traditional houses and cultures. Braving the bad roads to these places may also constitute a breathtaking and invigorating exercise for our tourists, but a comfortable place to pass a night or take a nap should be guaranteed. The Cameroonian public, not the government should be responsible for this, at least!

Comments

[wow power leveling]

http://www.gamegoldme.com/
http://www.wowgold-powerleveling.com/
http://www.wowgold-wow.com/
http://www.wowpowerleveling.me
http://www.watchrolexshop.com
http://www.wowgold-wow.com/wow-power-leveling
http://rs-runescapegold.com/
http://www.watchrolexshop.com/wow-power-leveling/
http://www.cheap-lotrogold.com/
http://www.globalsale.me/Aion-gold-083.aspx
http://www.cheap-gamegold.org
http://www.gamegoldvip.org
http://www.globalsale.me/