Government will from next year commit over GH¢400 million to provide new tourist attraction sites while renovating existing ones, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, disclosed in Accra recently.
These tourist attractions, he said, would include building museums and rehabilitating attraction sites such as the Shai Hills, Mole National Park, Cape Coast, and Elmina castles.
The minister disclosed this at the maiden Ghana Tourism Investment Summit organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
The summit with support of the Ghana Tourism Development Project [GTDP] in collaboration with the Ghana Tourism Development Company [GTDC] and other agencies, aimed to showcase Ghana’s rich and diverse tourism investment opportunities, attracting attention to the country, and positioning it as an attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investments [FDI] in tourism.
It also seeks to foster global integration of Ghana’s tourism trade and secure investments in various priority and emerging tourism sectors for mutual benefits.
The summit brought together key stakeholders in the tourism value chain as well as the Diplomatic Corps, legal practitioners, and development partners to discuss and share ideas on how to position the country as an attractive hub for global tourism investments.
The minister said tourism was government-led but private-sector-driven and the influx of AirBnB was an example, stating that Ghana in 2019 had recorded a 141 per cent growth in the use of the platform to find accommodation.
“In essence, the private sector stepped in to make moving around for a holiday easier. Since then, domestic arrivals to tourist sites have experienced marked growth, with numbers rising from 588,946 in 2021 to 937,087 in 2022,” he added.
Ofori-Atta said government would work with potential investors to facilitate community-based tourism initiatives, provide training and capacity-building opportunities for local communities, and foster cultural preservation and heritage conservation.
He expressed optimism that the investment summit would provide an opportunity to secure a steady investment pipeline of private capital that would feed into the drive to become Africa’s tourism hub.
He also pledged government’s continuous support to create an enabling environment for the sector and the broader economy to flourish, saying with collaboration and partnerships we can create a more sustainable and resilient tourism sector.
The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, said tourism was a propeller of economic growth and Ghana could get more tourist arrivals and increase its revenue if it invests in tourist attractions.
He indicated that the amount committed to modernise and provide new tourist attractions would serve as a job creation avenue and revenue mobilisation for the country.
“Our target next year is to get two million tourists’ arrivals, each tourist spends an average of $3,000 which will automatically generate $6m contributing to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” he added.
Dr Awal called for collaborative effort among tourism players to create investment opportunities while encouraging both local and foreign investors to contribute to the growth of Ghana’s tourism, arts, and hospitality sector.
The Chairman, GUMA Group, Mr Robert Gumede, assured of his outfit’s support to invest in some of the facilities earmarked to be renovated and modernised to make them relevant and attract more tourists into the country.
“That is what is going to make a change. We’re going to develop a mini Suncity here in Ghana. That’s our commitment. We want to hold hands with you, hit the ground running and invest our hard-earned monies in some of your facilities,” he added.
However, he bemoaned the poor customer service in the country and called for effective hospitality training for industry players in the tourism value chain to build their capacity to improve the country’s tourism sector.
By Vivian Arthur [Accra-Ghana]