Tourism
From The Report: Ghana 2019
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With significant potential to drive economic growth and job creation, the tourism sector is increasingly an area of focus for investment in Ghana. While the Bank of Ghana lists the sector as the fourth-highest foreign currency earner behind gold, cocoa and remittances, Ghana still has some way to go to become a destination of choice on the continent. Significant funding has therefore been committed to developing the sector through investments in infrastructure and skills development. With hotel capacity set to increase and a prominent profile in international circles as a safe and investment-friendly destination, Ghana’s tourism sector looks on track to continue growth. For sustained development, however, Ghana must address some key infrastructure bottlenecks. Chief among these is the road network outside of the Greater Accra Region, which must be developed and expanded to improve access to other parts of the country.

This chapter contains an interview with Catherine Afeku, Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Renewed ambitions: An influx of foreign tourists and priority funding strategies are driving growth in the sector
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With significant potential to drive economic growth and job creation, the tourism sector is increasingly an area of focus for investment in Ghana. While the Bank of Ghana lists the sector as the fourth-highest foreign currency earner behind gold, cocoa and remittances, Ghana still has some way to go to become a destination of choice on the continent. In 2017 the sector contributed GHS12.58bn ($2.7bn), or 6.2%, to national GDP. A total of 1.3m international tourists visited the country that…

Analysis

Meeting point: A new government initiative seeks to establish the country as a top destination for business events
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Spurred by its role as host of the 2017 World Tourism Forum, the government has launched a drive to become a leading meeting, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) destination in West Africa. With this goal in mind, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) in early 2018 established a Conventions Bureau, which has been tasked with collaborating with the private sector through the Ghana Tourism Federation. The strategy is based on three main pillars: marketing and promotion, infrastructure…

Interview

Raising awareness: Catherine Afeku, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, on using data, marketing and heritage sites to increase visitors
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Interview:Catherine Afeku What can be done to increase tourism in Ghana? CATHERINE AFEKU: There are three areas of policy focus that we have identified as the most effective in increasing tourist traffic. The first is increasing global publicity. This is aided by the Ghana Tourism Authority, which is responsible for marketing and promoting the country. One example of the global publicity push is the media buy we have taken out with CNN. Tourism is a competitive industry, and international…

Overview

Meeting expectations: Security and engagement key to further growth in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry – Ghana
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Countries and regions across the world have long understood the potential of the MICE segment as a vehicle to drive high-value tourism and economic development. In recent decades this has led to significant investment, with nations working to position themselves as centres for the industry, both regionally and globally, aided by greater air connectivity. At the same time, the industry has been shaped by new technologies and rising security concerns, as well as budget constraints brought on by headwinds like the 2008 global financial crisis and the lower oil price environment that emerged in mid-2014. Nonetheless, there are plenty of reasons…