The Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture (MoTAC) and Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) have set an international tourist arrivals target of 1.2 million visitors for the 2023 operational year.

The ministry is also projecting domestic tourist numbers for the year 2023 at 1.2 million.

Minister of Tourism, Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, who spoke to B&FT at the 2022 Tourism Report launch and 50th anniversary celebration of the GTA’s unveilling, said the industry will also create some 150,000 jobs for young people in all sub-sectors.

“From the target we have set, an estimated revenue of US$3.4billion will be generated in 2023 against the US$2billion realised in 2022,” Dr. Awal said.

Data from the GTA show that international arrivals moved from 623,523 in 2021 to 914,892 in 2022, representing 46.7 percent year-on-year growth.

Indeed, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) report on the topic ‘Tourism set to return to pre-pandemic levels in some regions’ in 2023 stated that Europe reached nearly 80 percent of pre-pandemic arrivals, and Africa and America 65 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

Ghana’s arrivals recovery, which stood at 81 percent, is significantly higher than the African average; and is around that of recovery levels for European markets.

This, according to Dr. Awal, shows the country can do more to attract and deepen the sector’s growth and progress.

“We want to rely on quality provisions to reach our set targets. With quality service and capacity building for sector players, we are sure to be on course to achieving an international arrivals target of two million in 2025 with over US$5.2billion in revenue – surpassing sectors including mining, cocoa, oil and gas sector etc.,” Dr. Awal anticipated.

GTA’s Chief Executive Officer, Akwasi Agyeman, explained that tourism data remains critical for policy formulation and for measuring the returns on investment in marketing, promotions and infrastructure the authority has put in place through the Tourism Development Fund and support from the ministry.