The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has projected a revenue generation of over $3 billion from the ‘Beyond the Return’ programs in 2024.
Speaking to journalists in Accra, Chief Executive Officer of GTA, Akwasi Agyeman, stated that Ghana is prepared to host at least 1.3 million tourists in the second half of 2024.
He noted that the first half of the year saw nearly 600,000 visitors to Ghana.
Mr Agyeman added that the second half of the year is typically stronger, with the last quarter often outperforming the first three quarters, leading to expectations of an increase in the number of visitors.
“We are very hopeful that we would surpass, and we have also had some engagement with organizations in the U.K., which is number 3 on the list for us, second to Nigeria, to promote Ghana strongly on the UK market.
“In all, it is about 3.8 billion that we anticipate coming into the country and we hope the private sector can take advantage of some of these things that are happening”.
In 2020, the government announced that it had generated about 1.9 billion cedis from over 900,000 visits to Ghana during the Year of Return celebration in 2019.
As part of preparations for the second half of the year, the CEO indicated that major event centers, including the National Theatre, will undergo renovations before December.
He also revealed that the authority is engaging the roads ministry to improve road networks leading to tourist sites in the country adding that a lot of work needs to be done on tourism infrastructure.
“We still have a lot of work to do, especially engagements with other agencies on tourism infrastructure. The roads to some of the tourist sites especially when it comes to a period like this when it is a rainy season, we get a lot of complaints. People wanting to visit tourist sites and then the rains and then the road network, so we are working with the Ministry of Roads through our ministry to make sure that at least the last mile to some of the tourist sites are improved”, he said.
