Inhospitality, Neglect Impede Cameroon Ecotourism

A combination of inhospitable police and hoteliers, general neglect and difficulty in acquiring visas are some of the obstacles retarding the growth of tourism in Cameroon.
By Bertrand Ndimu Sancho 
According to the manager of one of Cameroon’s eco-tourists recruiting organizations, Pro-Climate International, Tsafack Jean Claude, the factors hindering eco-tourism in the country is a whole chain.
“It begins from limited online information about Cameroon’s tourist sites, acquiring the Cameroon visa, which many eco-tourists say is complicated and expensive, and the inhospitality of policemen at the airport, some hotel attendants and even civilians who sometimes are not only rude, but harass tourists for bribes,” Tsafack told The Green Vision. 
The Pro-Climate manager said infrastructure like road networks, housing, state of hotels among others, leave much to be desired in Cameroon’s tourism industry. Some hotels, Tsafack continued, always run short of water supply and others don’t have backup generators in case of power outage. 
“Many legal tourists complain about the underdeveloped and dilapidated state of infrastructure up the mountain; the tourism infrastructure up there is still very poor and does not give any good image about our country on the international scene,” said Tsafack.
He added, “We could even be one of the best eco-tourism destinations in the world after Costa Rica but it seems that we are neglecting this sector. I know government is doing a lot but our performance in terms of the number of eco-tourists could have been much higher than what we have now.”
Mt. Cameroon
The Pro-Climate boss said Mt. Cameroon is undoubtedly one of, if not the most fascinating eco-tourist sites in Cameroon. 
“We have the Mt. Cameroon National Park which is a biodiversity hot spot. Tours are organized to generate income for the organization and to create employment for young Cameroonians. We organize both trekking and nature tours on Mt. Cameroon while preserving nature,” said Tsafack.
Tsafack said 90% of eco-tourists are international visitors, “but we also have a few officials from the country who mostly come from Douala and Yaounde to enjoy nature on Mt. Cameroon.”
According to Tsafack, most of the eco-tourists come from Germany. Some come from France, the UK, the US and other parts of the world.
“In 2009, when we started, we recorded a yearly recruitment of 100 eco-tourists for the programme, but today we handle some 250 eco-tourists per annum. Most of the eco-tourists come between November and April when the rainfall is still little,” Tsafack told The Green Vision. 
Apart from sporting activities, trekking and nature discovery tours, the landscape on Mt. Cameroon offers a variety of flora and fauna such as forest elephants, many wildlife species and medicinal plants.
Benefits To National Park
The Mt. Cameroon National Park also benefits from the Pro-Climate eco-tourism venture. 
“We pay some money to the national park. For international tourists, we pay 5.000 francs cfa for each visitor to the national park, while for those from African countries we pay 3.000 francs cfa per tourist per day.  For Cameroonian eco-tourists, it is 1.500 francs cfa per,” Tsafack said.  Besides making money from tourism, Pro-Climate tries to keep the mountain as natural and tidy as possible.
He said: “We insist that our guides and tourists always bring all wastes; plastic bottles, papers, all, to the office to leave the mountain as natural as possible. We then hand the waste over to HYSACAM for proper disposal.” 
Tsafack said since 2010, they have paid about 1.5 million francs cfa to Mt. Cameroon National Park, about 2 million to young people in Buea who serve as guides and potters, and Pro-Climate can boast of 2 million as income. 
While eco-tourism is picking up in the Mt. Cameroon area, illicit tourists leave behind much litter and even non-biodegradable materials.