Ghana Research & Study Tour

Established in 2011, the GRST is an international study tour that provides Vancouver Island University students with an opportunity to apply their education and enhance their cross-cultural competencies. Offered through the Dept. of Recreation & Tourism Management and the World Leisure Centre of Excellence at VIU, this program uses transformational education travel for sustainable tourism development and applied community-based research.

Reflections on the 2019 GRST

The 2019 Ghana Research and Study Tour came to a successful end on May 30th when most of the team headed back to Canada and Aggie moved on to Tanzania. The nine team members had an action packed month travelling through Ghana participating in applied community-based research and the many tourism products offered. Below are a few highlights of the 2019 edition of the VIU GRST:

  • The team’s first destination was the community of Atsiekpoe (A-Chim-Pay) in the Volta Region. The team stayed at Jolinaiko’s Cashew Lodge and worked with staff and local guides to assess the tourism products being offered as well as helping to create social media marketing materials (including helping with the creation of new accounts). The team members were able to: a) go fishing (using traditional canoes and nets), b) make palm frond baskets, c) make local dishes (Jollof Rice & Banku), d) interview local residents (including the oldest woman who remembers when Ghana received independence!), and e) share everything they learned with the community before the left!

  • Sunyani - where Aggie spent her first few years in Ghana - was the team’s second destination. While in Sunyani the students participated in a one day symposium hosted by the Brong Ahafo Research and Extension Centre (BAREC) at Sunyani Technical University (a partner in the Ghana-Canada Partnership for Environmental Education and the Protected Areas and Poverty Reduction project). Other participants included a team of Rotarians from Nanaimo (led by Dr. Ken Hammer) and field studies group from the University of Alberta. The highlight for the GRST team was an opportunity to spend time at the Hanukkah Children’s Home run by Aggie’s friend Mariette and Moses. The students played with the kids, handed out hand-made dolls (Laura Erickson and Robin Shannon), and donated money to help Mariette and Moses continue the amazing work that they do to help Ghana’s Children!

  • The primary destaination for the GRST is the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary. This year we focused on fours primary activities: a) evaluating existing programs using an experiential tourism lens, b) creating collateral for social media promotion, c) conducting analysis of data from the Evaluation of Visitors’ Experiences survey, and d) collecting data for a new research project focused on understanding environmental behaviours and values of junior-high students and teachers’ and administrators’ perceptions of environmental education curriculum in Ghana. Before leaving the WCHS the team was not only able to see hippos but they were also able to participate in important ecological monitoring research by participating in (and donating the funds for) the quarterly hippo census.



  • After leaving Wechiau the team was able to spend a week participating in some of the premier tourism experiences offered in Ghana: a) elephant safaris (walking and driving) in Mole National Park, b) the Canopy Walk in Kakum National Park, c) visiting the Cape Coast Castle, and d) souvenir shopping!




Introducing the 2019 Ghana Research & Study Tour Team

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Jocelyne Fournier
Jocelyne recently completed her 3rdyear of the Bachelor of Tourism Management program. She is originally from the province of Manitoba, where she grew up in a small French-Canadian community. She is very proud of her Métis heritage, and has a keen interest to dig deeper into her family history so that she can better understand the involvement of Indigenous communities in tourism. Jocelyne is participating in the GRST because she has a strong passion for rural community development, and hopes to be fully immersed into a new culture and way of life. 
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Laura Erikson
Laura will graduate with a Bachelor of Tourism Management degree in June. In addition to being a Tourism student, she is an artist. Laura loves all different forms of mediums from traditional paints and alternative materials to digital arts and photography.
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Megan Fortune
​Megan Fortune is a third year student at Vancouver Island University studying a Bachelor of Tourism Management with a Major in Recreation. Growing up in Ucluelet, small town on Vancouver Island, gave Megan a great appreciation for the outdoors and the lessons nature has to offer her. Megan is participating in the GRST because she is interested in rural community development and excited about the opportunity to expand her cultural knowledge and engage in the international community. She hopes to bring back new knowledge that she can share with communities.

Select Project Reports & Presentations

Students share their research at a National Conference - 2013 GRST Participants present at CCLR 2014

​Preliminary Report: Analysis of Residents' Perceptions of Benefits and Sacrifices of the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary (2013).

Research Poster: Residents' Perceptions of the Benefits and Sacrifices of the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary (2012).

Report: Recommendations for Improving Tourism in Larabanga (2012).

Conference Presentation: The Ghana Research & Study Tour: A case study of the benefits and costs to hosts and guests.

Infographic: Ghana Research & Study Tour

Photo Slideshow (2013).

Residents' Perceptions of the Benefits & Sacrifices of a CREMA in Upper West Ghana

John Weighill Memorial Award - Helping fund VIU Recreation & Tourism Student's Experiences

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Exploring the land and culture...
​These short videos and photos share a quick look at the adventures that the teams have in Ghana
DR. AGGIE WEIGHILL