Kente Weaving and Tourism in a Cluster of Kente Towns Inashanti

Abstract

One of the most promising drivers of growth in the nation's economy is tourism. In Ashanti Region, Bonwire, Adawomase, Ntonso and Tewobeabi are the four major clusters of tourist destinations. This is due to their interesting, unique, authentic, cultural and traditional hand woven cloth called Kente and its social-economic activities. This creative craft plays an important role in the development of tourism in Ashanti Region. In this paper, ethnographic approach is used to describe the creative process of the Kente industry in the towns of Bonwire, Adawomase, Ntonso and Tewobeabi. Based on the results of the field research, the authors conclude that theseKenteindustrial centres are now more oriented towards meeting the needs of tourists in their bid to promote its rich cultural heritage. Due to extensive interaction and the positive response from the general public, Kente weavers of Bonwire, Adawomase, Ntonso and Tewobeabi are experiencing a unique and characteristic creative phase. The tourists negotiate the values between the old designs and the new designsand can find both royal traditional designs and new, creative and innovative Kente products of export quality. Today, these locations are trademark Kente tourism towns ofinternational respect.