South West: Tourists’ Torrent Slow But Sure

The peak season runs from November to July with tasteful destinations, mostly natural, abounding in all the six Divisions of the Region.

Dreamland beaches, lakes, forests reserves, water falls, aggro-industrial plantations, and the amazing scenery of the undulating landscape are just a few of the tourists’ lures in the South West Region.

Gleaning through the records of the South West Regional Delegation of Tourism and Leisure in Buea, the first semester of 2017 has yielded some CFA 36.091.926 in taxes to state coffers from tourists hitting the soil of the Bakweris, Bafaws, Bangwas, Bakossis, Banyangis and the Bakundus in the South West Region.The mentioned taxes were recorded only from proceeds from the hotels spread through the six administrative Divisions of the Region. Statistics of proceeds from visitors of open air sites like mount Cameroon, the beaches, the monuments and the forests reserves were not handy at the time of this report.

The South West Region is, in effect, an Eldorado but for the poor road network that makes things difficult for the willing tourists. It is even a mark improvement these days with the Ekok-Mamfe-Kumba-Douala road completely asphalted. Otherwise, the travelers from Nigeria or Bamenda have no qualms getting into the interior of the South West Region. Only roads leading to tourism sites and the hinterlands are still beckoning for maintenance.

In the first semester of this ending year, some 77.325 persons from elsewhere spent at least a night in the numerous hotels across the Region. The midterm figure hints a ceiling of some 50.000 tourists that may visit the Region before the year folds up. 

In Fako Division known as the “Whiteman’s arrival yard”, the Mount Cameroon smiles at the visitors especially from November when the rains apparently give way to sunny days. The 700-million Reunification Monument, the Bismark colonial statue, the British 1902 first ever Post office in Cameroon, the...