Editorial by Ghanaian Times: Sustain efforts to grow tourism

An Editors’ Forum was yesterday or­ganised by the Min­istry of Tourism, Arts and Culture in Accra at which certain issues were raised as actions meant to improve tourism in the country to rake in about $6billion over the next four years, an aver­age of $1.5billion a year.

We wonder why that $6billion projection.

Our question is based on the fact that the Min­istry said last year that the tourism industry had been projected to generate about $2.3 billion into the Ghana­ian economy.

Besides, Statista, a Ger­man online platform which specialises in data gathering and visualisation and offers statistics and reports, as well as market insights, has recorded that in 2019, the tourism sector in Ghana contributed $4.45 billion to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP); $2.1 billion in 2020 and around $3.1 billion in 2021.

Unless we can be con­vinced that different methods are used to do the computations, we would say that the projected $6bil­lion over four years paints a picture of a fall in tourism revenue.

Thus, we hope the loopholes in projections as against the actuals would be plugged to bring clarity to the figures.

In spite of the con­cern raised, we know that tourism is supporting the Ghanaian economy in no small way.

For instance, it is on record that the sector ac­counted for 4.9 per cent of GDP in 2018, making it the fourth-largest contributor after cocoa, gold and oil.

Yesterday, the sector minister, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, stated at the Editors’ Forum that the ministry had lined up projects and programmes to grow tourism and make it number one contributor to the country’s GDP.

We believe with a high level of dedication, the efforts of the ministry can materialise and be recorded as a novelty in the country’s socioeconomic history.

Over the years, cocoa has been the lead contrib­utor to the country’s GDP and so should any product overtake it, that can be highly valued.

We commend the Tour­ism Ministry, particularly Dr Awal, for all the efforts to prove to the world that all sectors of the economy should be grown to sup­port the country’s drive to develop to the level that can bring some relief to the suffering masses.

Most often, some min­isters and, for that matter, politicians, give promises they do not fulfill.

However, we trust that Dr. Awal and his team, supported by the central government, will deliver because they have already completed some of the projects and programmes meant to grow tourism.

Without doubt, the tourism industry in Ghana is helping the country’s economy in various ways.

In the face of those ben­efits, we pray that the Min­istry of Tourism, Arts and Culture would not relent in its efforts to position tour­ism to lead the country’s economic Development.

Apart from providing jobs in the hospitality industry, it supports the growth of hotels and restaurants in the country.

For instance, in 2021, a total of 3,919 licensed accommodation establish­ments, particularly hotels, operated in Ghana.

The forts, castles and other monuments that attract tourists add to the beauty of the country.