The tourism industry in Ghana - statistics & facts

Ghana is one of the major destinations for tourists traveling to West Africa. As an English-speaking country, the majority of its visitors come from the United States, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom. For instance, in 2020, over 39,000 people visited the country from the United States. In that year, around 355,000 overall tourist arrivals were registered. This represented a sharp decline compared to the preceding years, which reported more than 900,000 annual visitors. Most of these visitors arrived for business, family, and holiday purposes. The effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on tourism in the country have remained problematic in recent years.

Tourists' spending behavior

Tourism contributes to Ghana's economic growth. The overall international tourist spending in the country stood at around 946 million U.S. dollars in 2019, which was an increase from the year before. As of 2020, almost 80 percent of the tourist expenditure was for leisure, while business spending made up the remaining 20 percent. Specifically, the highest average daily tourist expenditure was on accommodation, gifts, shopping, and entertainment. For instance, a tourist spent an average of 191.52 U.S. dollars per day on accommodation as of 2019.

Tourism contribution to employment

Also contributing to the economy is employment in tourism. There were over 272,000 jobs in travel and tourism in Ghana in 2020. In terms of direct contribution to employment, the industry registered a share of 4.2 percent in the said year. Although this showed a lower percentage compared to previous years, the growing interest in tourism still serves as a point of growth for the industry. Furthermore, as part of the efforts to boost tourism in Ghana, the government launched the 2019 Year of Return, inviting people from all over the world to commemorate 400 years since the arrival of enslaved Africans in Jamestown, Virginia. Consequently, the nation's economy was boosted. That year, travel and tourism contributed over 3.7 billion U.S. dollars to Ghana's GDP.

Hotels and accommodation

The number of tourist accommodation establishments in Ghana has steadily increased in recent years. In 2020, however, a sharp decline was observed, possibly due to the heavy impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Nevertheless, as of that year, over 3,500 enterprises were licensed to provide accommodation services in the country. Tourists spent an average of 8-14 days in these accommodation establishments, the majority of which were 3-5 star hotels. In Greater Accra, the region with the nation's capital, Movenpick Ambassador Hotel and Golden Tulip Hotel had the highest number of hotel rooms in 2022, as the count reached more than 230 rooms per hotel. Overall, hotels and restaurants contributed close to 3.9 billion Ghanaian cedis, some 520 million U.S. dollars, to Ghana's GDP in 2020.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Doris Dokua Sasu, May 24, 2022

Key insights

Tourist arrivals
624m
Leading origin of tourists
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Main purpose of visitors
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