Princess Town to get first class hotel

By Juliet AGUIAR, Princess Town

To support government in achieving its goal of promoting the tourism industry, Saroma Capital Limited, “an integrated real-estate investment and development incorporated in Ghana”, is to put up a 150-room five-star hotel at Princess Town in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region.

Dr. Ayowa Afrifa-Taylor, the Managing Director of Soroma Capital Limited, at a ceremony to commence the project explained that acquisition of the site was in response to a Ministry of Tourism-led investment promotion of coastal sites suitable for the development of resorts in 2006.

“Saroma Capital Limited responded to the challenge and has engaged global hotel development experts to deliver a 150-room eco-chic, luxury hotel with business conferencing and family leisure amenities -- the white sandy beach, the wide bay, the thick coconut groves, the mangroves, the lagoon as well as the nearby Fort Groot Fredricksburg make the site a world-class tourist destination,” she said.

She pointed out that the hotel will be nestled among coconut groves blending in with the landscape -- the hotel is not a walled enclave but an integrated part of the local community, with walking routes across the beach and from the lagoon open to the community.

“Twenty-five acres of land is to be used for the first phase; the second to the fifth phase will be developed in stages and it is expected that the project will be completed within three years,” she said.

She said it is expected that about 1,000 people from the community are expected to be engaged in construction of the hotel – “we are also working with the community to establish a trust that will directly hold shares in the hotel company, so that the community will benefit financially from the hotel’s fortunes.”

She mentioned the deplorable 18 kilometre road to Princess Town as a challenge, and appealed to the authorities in charge to rehabilitate the road.

Mr. Paul Evans Aidoo, the Western Regional Minister in an address read for him, said the project is of a high strategic importance at local, regional, national and continental level.

He said in 2011, for the first time in the history of Ghana, over one million tourists arrivals were recorded -- nearly double the number achieved five years ago, and this growth trend is expected to continue.

“The construction of the Princess Town Resort in phases is expected to provide training and employment, especially to those living in the Ahanta West District; and as such, the hotel should help reduce poverty, particularly female poverty that is often seen in the rural areas,” he added.

He commended the promoter, Soroma Capital, for having the vision, the tenacity and the wherewithal to bring such a project to fruition.

Read Full Story