Tourism

Tourism is currently the fourth (4th) largest source of foreign exchange earnings for Ghana. It contributes approximately 4.8% to the country’s GDP. The south of the coast of Ghana, in the Atlantic Ocean is the place where the equator and the Greenwich meridian meet (0°00′00″ N, 0°00′00″W). Ghana is the centre of the world and is the gateway for the black diaspora and African political consciousness and liberation. The all-year-round tropical warm climate and the peacefulness of the country are the main reasons for the increase of tourism in Ghana. Ghana is known for five types of tourism: Ecotourism, Historical tourism, Cultural tourism, Pleasure tourism and Conference/Business tourism. Ghana is known for its beautiful waterfalls e.g., the Kintampo Waterfalls, mountains, rivers, highly informative and emotionally stimulating historical sites and others. Ghana’s various ethnic groups with their local dishes and over 30 festivals are rich experiences also heavily explored, experienced, and enjoyed by tourists.

Nevertheless, the development of tourism is closely related to the imagination of tourists who dream and idealize their vacations before living them. The cleanliness of the tourist destination, even if it is only apparent, is therefore essential to the development of the sector. Consequently, the management of garbage in general as well as the cleanliness of the beaches and the pollution of the sea water due to the untreated discharges of the effluents of the capital Accra are an obstacle to the development of this sector. This is certainly one of the main reasons for the delays in the project to redevelop the seafront of the country's capital, even if the question of land ownership also remains an obstacle to this development.

That is the reason that business tourism continues today to lead with 33.7% of the tourists that visited Ghana mostly for conference and conventions, 12.5% of tourists are Ghanaians from the diaspora who visited family and friends, so only 12.3% came for holiday or vacation. In addition to pollution, there are other weaknesses in the development of tourism in Ghana that inhibit the country's drive to become a leading destination in sub-Saharan Africa.

First of all, there is no tourism training structure in Ghana and professionals trained on the job have difficulty reaching international standards in the field, which affects the quality of services offered and hinders the growth of the sector. It is therefore necessary to invest in this training and create a real sector by encouraging universities and schools to set up courses dedicated to tourism. The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) announcing its willingness to create a training school is an encouraging sign as well as the recently enacted Tourism Sites Regulation 2019 (L.I. 2393) which defines minimum standards for tourism site employees.

Another obstacle is the recurrent delay in the use of new technologies. Many tourism actors in Ghana are still without a website and for those who have one, they are generally dated and inoperative. It should be noted that on this point the GTA has taken the bull by the horns by setting up a Matchmaking platform for the sector. It has begun to integrate companies related to tourism and users can already pay for services and make reservations online.

There is also a need to improve the physical infrastructure impacting the sector, including the state of roads and sanitation facilities, and to continue the efforts initiated in this direction by the Public-Private Partnership Forum (mandated by the 2011 Tourism Law (Law 817) to boost synergies between the public and private sectors in the improvement of these infrastructures.

Finally, the GTA suffers from having insidiously transformed itself into a regulatory apparatus due to the requirements of the 2011 Tourism Law which obliges it to ensure that tourism businesses pay the 1% tourism tax. South Africa has established a tourism review board to oversee and regulate tourism. Such a body in Ghana could support the GTA and allow it to return to its original purpose and focus on promoting tourism in Ghana.

Concerning the history of Ghana, the maintenance of the heritage in particular that concerning the emblematic places of the slave trade and the ignominious triangular traffic of human beings which is related to it, must be taken into account in the development of historical tourism.

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