Promoting Tourism to Ghana

Tourism is a major contributor to the country's economy.

The Government of Ghana is developing a website to market the country as a tourist destination. With assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Ghana tourism website will be launched within the next few months at http://www.ghanatourism.gh/.

Implemented by the Secretariat's Special Advisory Services Division, the project is aimed at complementing the tourism sector's efforts to promote Ghana as a tourist destination. The Ghana Tourist Board will manage the content and domain name of the website, which is hosted in the United Kingdom.

The website will offer news on investment opportunities in tourism and a database containing key information about the country -- its location and population; climate and vegetation; a brief political history and details about government; geographical data and maps; transport information; and holidays, festivals and events. It will feature reports on Ghana's culture, history and ecology while also describing its special recreational facilities.

The Government of Ghana has identified tourism as a major contributor to the country's economy. About 300,000 visitors arrived in Ghana in 1998, according to its Tourist Board. The majority of visitors to Ghana today -- some 60 per cent -- are from Africa. The Government aims to increase annual international arrivals to about 640,000 by 2006.

Some constraints, including limited marketing capacity, have hindered the full development of Ghana's tourism sector. This is one of the issues to be addressed through the establishment of a more accessible website.

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service, Issue 214, 15 December 2004

Key Links:

• Special Advisory Services