Ghana has a lot to offer tourists including unique historical and cultural landmarks, traditional festivals, craft villages, natural attractions, lakes, rivers, and sandy beaches with options for fishing and water sports. With Ghana’s reputation for being friendly, hospitable, welcoming and safe, it is a popular choice for first-time visitors to West Africa.

Tourism ranks among Ghana’s fastest growing sectors and is attractive for investors. It is Ghana’s third largest foreign exchange earner after gold and cocoa. The Ministry of Tourism and the Ghana Tourist Board have taken significant steps to develop and manage the industry.

With support from the government and private investors, Ghana is preparing for considerable growth in tourism. Tourism is expected to grow 4.1% per year over the coming years, so significant improvements in accommodation and food services are needed to support the growth.

Accommodations

The current options for classy hotels, resorts, and conference facilities include:

Ghana also has many two and three-star hotels and guesthouses. There is great demand for more two to five-star hotels to accommodate increasing numbers of foreign visitors to Ghana’s major cities and natural and cultural attractions. Particular emphasis is placed on developing four to five-star facilities.

More facilities are also needed in more remote areas where most of the historical and natural attractions are located. Currently many visitors are limited to day trips because they cannot find suitable accommodations in the remote areas.

Dining

The market for eating out can be subdivided into four main categories:

1. Expatriate community who frequent the  gourmet restaurants
2. Middle class families who occasionally dine in the gourmet restaurants
3. Working class who are regulars at the numerous eateries that serve local food
4. Youth who gather around fast food joints.

 

Most upscale restaurants invest in customer service training for their staff and there are several schools that provide this type of training to restaurants and hotels. However, customer service in other establishments is not on par with international standards. Increased training facilities and services are necessary to better prepare Ghana’s hospitality industry.

Challenges

To keep up with the growth in the industry, more hotels, dining facilities, and tourism establishments will need to be built, which raises the following issues.

Growth Priorities

The Ministry of Tourism has identified the following five priorities for public developments:

1. Beach resorts
2. Game park sites
3. Inland lake resorts
4. Eco-tourism
5. Heritage sites

 

The following priorities have been identified for private sector developments and are options for investors and foreign businesses:

Other opportunities to invest include:

Additional Info