Frederick Dayour

Volunteer tourists’ length of stay in Ghana: influence of socio-demographic and trip attributes

ABSTRACT Length of stay is an important variable in tourist expenditure, satisfaction and destination image. While studies exist on mainstream tourists’ length of stay, it still remains an elusive area in volunteer tourism. This paper contributes to knowledge about volunteer tourism length of stay by providing exploratory insights into the influential factors of volunteer tourists’ length of stay. The paper presents the findings of 410 volunteer tourists to Ghana. The results of the study reveal that volunteer tourists’ length of stay is influenced by some demographic variables and trip attributes including: country of origin, typology of volunteers, schooling status, expenditure of the destination, and nature of placement. The implications of the results are discussed.

International Tourists' Satisfaction with Ghanaian Upscale Restaurant Services and Revisit Intentions

Tourists’ satisfaction with restaurant services tend to generate repeat visitation. The interrelationships between international tourists’ satisfaction of restaurant services and intentions to revisit have, however, received little empirical attention from academics in Ghana. Data were randomly collected from 768 international tourists in Ghana and analyzed using factor analysis and binary logistic regression. International tourists were generally satisfied with the services of Ghanaian upscale restaurants. International tourists who were satisfied with the tangibles, reliability, assurance-empathy, and responsiveness dimensions of the upscale restaurant services showed a higher likelihood of revisiting the restaurants than did their counterparts who were dissatisfied.

Exploring the Role of Trust in Risk Communication Among Climate-Induced Vulnerable Rural Communities in Wa West District, Ghana

Northern Ghana needs effective early warning system against its climate-induced vulnerabilities. Though there are a plethora of early warning information channels, the challenge often lies in identifying effective communication tool that would spur the vulnerable community into action and its mediating mechanisms. This is against the backdrop that prior studies indicate that information does not automatically lead to action without individual’s personal interpretation. Trust is thus seen as a key mediator between the sources of information and individual’s disaster response rate. Based on our field studies from Northern Ghana, we empirically explore the relationship between trust, risk perception, and the acceptance of preventive actions by comparing two models of trust: the causal chain and the associationist view. We examine whether the relationship between trust in information sources and the disaster-preventive action is mediated by the risk perception (i.e., the causal chain model) or whether the risk perception and trust in information sources are expressions of a more general attitude toward disaster preparedness (i.e., the associationist view model). Our findings challenge the conventional causal chain model and suggest that trust does not necessarily influence the acceptance of a disaster-preventing actions (e.g., evacuation). Rather, trust is more of a reflection of the individual’s general attitude toward disaster preparedness, which is shaped by his/her cultural norms.

Effect of the National School Feeding Programme on Pupils' Enrolment, Attendance and Retention: A Case Study of Nyoglo of the Savelugu-Nantong Municipality, Ghana

The Ghana School Feeding Programme-GSFP is one of the social intervention programmes introduced to improve the educational standards of rural communities in Ghana. The main objective of the programme is to motivate parents to enroll their wards in basic schools, improve attendance, make pupils stay in schools and to improve the nutritional intake of children in rural areas. Nyoglo community of the Savelugu-Nantong Municipality which had the lowest pupils’ enrolment, attendance and retention rates had been a beneficiary of this social intervention since 2005, yet, it appears no systematic academic inquiry exists looking at the effect of the school feeding programme-SFP on enrolment, attendance and retention. To fill this lacuna, the current study explored the contribution of the Programme on pupils’ enrolment, attendance and retention using 150 respondents. The study was guided by the mixed method approach to research. Data for the