The Minister-designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Awal, has outlined plans to increase revenue from the sector to $6 billion in the country within the next three years.
The latest data from the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) indicates that the sector contributed $1 billion to the economy in 2020, with global projections indicating an ex[ected increase to $1.2 billion by the close of the year.
The Minister-designate, with an ambitious $5-billion projection of inflow within his first two years in office, insisted that it was very possible, considering the fact that the country raked in $3.3 billion in 2019 due to the Year of Return initiative.
Dr. Awal proved confident that initiatives such as the Year of Return and Beyond the Return, a further improvement of tourist sites, and Ghana’s arts and culture would help achieve that target.
According to him, he plans on making the tourism sector the number one foreign exchange earner for the country in the next four years.
Ghana’s tourism industry is currently the fourth foreign exchange earner, with gold, oil, and cocoa occupying the number one to three positions, respectively.
“Tourism everywhere contributes significantly to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In Ghana, it is the number four foreign exchange earner, but we are determined to make it the number one,” he stated.
