Invest in Ghana Tourism Industry 2023

• Multi-hotel resorts; one each for the Volta Estuary; Accra and environs; Brenu beach in the Central Region; Cape Three Points area in the Western Region; Lake Bosumtwi in Ashanti, the Volta Lake Basin incorporating Dodi Island, Dwarf Island, Digya National Park, Melinli Peninsular, Amedzofe and Wli-falls in the Volta Region.
• Single-hotel resorts at beach sites, botanic garden sites, other lake sites etc.
• Mountain Resort
• Business Hotel of all classes.
• Lodges and Inns; desirable locations include eco-tourism sites (eco-lodges in National parks), as well as other isolated tourism attraction sites and towns.
• Motels on major tourist routes.
• Hostelsparticularly on or near university campuses for dual use by tourists and campus students.
• Camping sites the trans-Saharan adventure tourists with Paga, Tamale, Kintampo Falls, Kumasi, and Accra.

• Small Scale Rest Stop: this is a simple basic road-side stop with facilities for parking; washrooms; basic refreshment, etc.
• Medium Scale Rest Stop: Fairly elaborate with facilities for parking, washrooms, cafeteria, shop, fuel, and auto servicing.

These independent shops are in high demand in major tourist centres particularly Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast/Elimina and border entry points

The under-listed services are required at major tourist locations:

• Tourist Taxi: This is highly inadequate; it may be operated by companies licensed by the Ghana Tourist Board and registered to operate from specified bases namely hotels, airports and other transport terminals.
• Air Taxi: This is also highly inadequate but there is growing demand for it by both business and holiday visitors requiring quick visits to locations outside Accra.
• Car Hire: The growing tourist traffic is not being matched by investments in the various categories of road transport vehicles especially tourist coaches, tourist buses, limousines, and cross-country vehicles for trekking and safaris.
• Cruise Boats: The Volta Lake offers an opportunity for the operation of various types of lake transportation for various leisure purposes such as cruise excursions or purely passenger service or for a more personalized recreation like fishing etc.

The growth of various types of tourism has created opportunities for investing in tourist handling services including:

• Tour Guiding Services: These involve setting up a company which employs a pool of tour guides for operators, conference organizers etc.
• Tour Handler Services: This is a small-scale operation whose services may be hired by an in-coming tour operator to handle the ground logistics required by in-coming package tourists.
• Tour Operations: This is a larger form of a tour landing outfit. In this case, the operator is required to own buses, coaches, and must have own tour packages.  It requires substantial investment in office accommodation, equipment, staff outlay, considerable experience in airline and tourist travel operation as well as a substantial insurance cover.
• Travel Agencies: This sector is almost choked with a mushroom of outfits but an enterprising new entrant can make it.

These services are in short supply and as the visitor traffic grows, there will be the need for more such services particularly:

• Credit Card Agents or Discount Houses to offer credit to pay bills at areas which do not accept credit cards.
• Foreign Exchange Bureau: Though these are many, there is room for more.
• Tourism Rental Services: There is a growing demand for the rental of catering, camping, picnic accessories as well as mobile telephones and toilets in Ghana, all in the service of travelers, event organizers etc.

There is growing demand for various types of health services for visitors notable among which are:

• Tourism health insurance companies
• Ambulance service for tourists including the concept of the flying doctor to service remote tourist sites.

The following will be required to meet the growing demand:

• Street Taverns, Cafes and Food Countersspecializing in local snacks as well as foreign snacks.
• Pubs: these are inadequate, such as the likes of Hard Rock Café in the US.
• Night Clubs which offer table service with floor or live shows.
• Fast Food Restaurants: these are becoming popular and as we receive more American tourists, the demand for the likes of KFC and McDonalds become apparent,
• Specialty Restaurants:especially African and Ghanaian cuisine restaurants which serve dinner are inadequate. 

Accra and all major cities as well as tourist centres literally go to bed at sundown for few nightlife activities.  There is growing demand for international class:

• Pubs
• Discotheques
• Night-clubs with live shows
• Casinos
• Amusement parks etc

Though Ghana attracts large numbers of European, American, Asian, and African tourists, they do not stay long because of lack of activity as Ghana’s tourist offer so far has been mainly sight-seeing featuring, festivals, monuments, game-viewing and nature walk. There is high demand from tourists for leisure and sporting activities to liven up their stay.

The following would greatly enhance tourists’ experiences:

• World-class golf courses for international tournaments
• Marinas on our Atlantic Coast, inland lakes and big rivers for sport fishing, yachting, sailing, surfing etc.
• Theme Parks to relieve boredom.
• Sports centres in cities offering a wide range of indoor/outdoor activities.

Surveys indicate that most visitors to Ghana return home with most of their pocket (spending) money because the country does not offer tempting shopping opportunities despite her wealth in products.  The following are required:

• Souvenir shops
• Supermarkets
• Shopping arcades
• Shopping malls
• Duty-free shops.

Multipurpose convention/conference / Exhibition Centres and Halls with shopping Arcade

Need for training centres, a greater use of e-learning channels and other more innovative and flexible ways of providing education and skills development in the Industry