Tourism in Ghana

Regions of Tourism

There are 9 different regions in Ghana for tourism. These regions include: Eastern Region, Upper East Region, Volta Region, Greater Accra Region, Northern Region, Ahanti Region, Brong Ahafo Region, Upper West Region, and Western Region.

Eastern Region: The Eastern Region is known for its nature and culture. This area contains Lake Volta, "one of the world's largest man-made lakes" . The area is also known for Akosombo Dam, which is Ghana's main hydroelectric power. This region is also important because of it's commercial diamond industry and the cocoa industry. In this region, tourists can visit the cities of Akropong and Mampong which contains the original Presbyterian school buildings and Tetteh Quarshie's house.

Upper East Region: The Upper East Region is known for its immense savannah grasslands. This area is important because of its border with Burkina Faso and it is highly influenced today because of its past as a trans-Saharan trade route. This area contains six districts: Bawku East, Bawku West, Bongo Builsa, Kassena-Nankana, and Bolgatanga. Bolgatanga, also known as Bolga, is the capital district and is important because it a main stop in the trading commute from Mali and Burkina Faso to Tamale and Southern Ghana.

Greater Accra Region: The Greater Accra Region is best known for housing the nation's Capital City. It is considered the smallest region of all of the other regions. This area is known to contain a life of luxury with amazing hotels, nightclubs, historical architecture and restaurants. This are contains the National Museum which exhibits the life of Ghana from its being until modern time. This area also contains the nation's international airport.

Northern Region: The Northern Region is the largest region of all the other regions.; containing around 2 million citizens .It contains 13 of the 110 districts of the country.

Ahanti Region: The Ahanti Region is best known for all the culture it possesses. This area is recognized for all of the festivals, food, day-to-day life, and different languages. Many of the visitors can participate in these events if they choose to do so. The region is also know for its varied climate throughout the day.

Brong Ahafo Region: The Brong Ahafo Region is known for its diversity with ethnicities and culture aside from different geographical features.

Upper West Region: The Upper West Region is similar to the Upper East Region in term of geographical features and reasons of importance.

Western Region: The Western Region is known for its beaches. There are many houses in the water that visitors are welcome to use canoes to reach and spend the night. This area is also known for its multiple European forts used for trading. [1]

Tourist attractions and tourism statistics

Tourist arrivals to Ghana include South Americans (Latinos), Asians, Europeans. Ghana's all year round tropical warm climate along with its many wildlifes; exotic waterfalls such as Kintampo Waterfalls and the largest waterfall in west Africa, the Tagbo Falls; Ghana's coastal palm-lined sandy beaches; caves; mountains, rivers; meteorite impact crater and reservoirs and lakes such as Lake Bosumtwi or Bosumtwi meteorite crater and the largest lake in the world by surface area, Lake Volta; dozens of castles and forts; UNESCO World Heritage Sites; nature reserves and national parks are major tourist destinations in Ghana.

The World Economic Forum statistics in 2010 showed that Ghana was 108th out of 139 countries as the world's favourite tourism destinations. The country had moved two places up from the 2009 rankings. In 2011, Forbes Magazine, published that Ghana was ranked the eleventh-most friendly country in the world. The assertion was based on a survey in 2010 of a cross-section of travelers. Of all the African countries that were included in the survey Ghana ranked highest. Ghana ranks as the seventieth−most stable country in the world and as the 58th–most peaceful country in the world.

In 2011, Ghana raked in $2.19 billion ($2,019,000,000) from the tourism sector on the back of an estimated 1,087,000 million international tourist arrivals. In 2012, Ghana’s tourism sector raked-in $1.7 billion ($1,700,000,000) from 993,600 international tourists, providing employment for 359,000 people. Ghana will annually rake in US$8.3 billion ($8,300,000,000) from the tourism sector per year by the year 2027 on the back of an estimated 4.3 million international tourist arrivals.

To enter Ghana, it is necessary to have a visa authorized by the Government of Ghana, except for certain business incubators and business magnates who are on business trip.

Heritage Toursim

Heritage Tourism is Ghana is composed of a festival called PANAFEST. PANAFEST is made up of PANAFEST and Emancipation Day. This festival takes place in primarily two cities: Elmina and Cape Coast. These cities were the largest slave-trading forts in the nation. The official opening ceremony is the wreath laying. It occurs in the region of Accra because that is the site of the "Fathers of Pan-Africianism" of Ghana. The celebrations for the following eight days move to Elmina and Cape Coast. These celebrations include carnival day, a journey of return from those located in other nations, Rita Marley's birthday, an academic lecture on the women and youth, a naming ceremony from people from the diaspora, and finally the "Reverential Night". PANAFEST (Pan-African Historical Festival) is a cultural event with the intention of increasing the notion of Pan-Africanism and African development. PANAFEST first came to be in the 1980s by Dr. Efua Sutherland. Emancipation Day is basically a day to remember the horrible occurrence of slavery. It first came to be in 1997 by President Rawlings. These two festivals were first celebrated on different days, however in 2001 they started to be celebrated together. PANAFEST is a direct manifestation of Ghanian culture. It is also the appropriation of it and capitalization by the Rawlings administration. Indeed, Rawlings' developed international cultural festivals such as PANAFEST as a source of income for Ghana through the promotion of tourism in Ghana. It proved to be effective.

Tourism in Ghana: Appropriated Beginnings

Before the Rawlings administration, tourism in Ghana was not an effective source of income for the Ghanian society and was thus a missed opportunity in helping to diversify the Ghanian economy. The Rawlings administration saw this area of opportunity and capitalized on it, ultimately appropriating the Ghanian culture and utilizing it as a source of revenue. Through the restoration of castles that were once used for the slave industry, establishment of public memorials honoring the "illustrious sons" of Ghana coupled with encouragement from the government via incentives for private investments, the Rawlings administration was effectively able to push tourism forward with the cost of capitalizing on Ghanian culture.

The tourist industry in Ghana is known to promote sustainable tourism which includes: cultural tourism, heritage tourism, recreational tourism, adventure tourism and events tourism. Cultural tourism focuses on festivals and events, whereas heritage tourism focuses on the history of the slave routes. Recreational tourism allows tourists to explore beaches and theme parks. Adventure tourism takes a look at rain forests and game parks, and event tourism focuses on resources and conferences.

Many of the heritage tourism sites highlight the legacy of the African Diaspora and the social composition of communities. As a result, these studies have impacted the tourists' connection to the heritage tourism sites by providing cultural depth to their traveling experience.

Currency in Ghana and Exchange Rates

In Ghana, the economic system is based on the Ghanian Cedi (currency symbol GH¢) and the pesewa (currency symbol Gp). Pesewas are the basic units of Ghanian currency and cedi's are the second tier in their economic system; in other words, pesewas are comparable to the United States' penny and the cedi is comparable to a United States dollar. Although they may be compared in that regard, currency in Ghana is worth more3 than currency in the United States. 1 Ghanian Cedi converts to approximately .22¢ in the United States.

Cost of daily necessities/shopping in Ghana

A popular aspect of traveling is getting to experience the food, culture, and shopping of a new area. Here is a table that details the cost of items that are frequently bought by tourists in Ghana (currency will be in Ghanian Cedi).

Transportation and Traveling in Ghana

In Ghana, various methods of transportation are used by tourists. Some of them may be safer than others but are not always available. Here we will explain methods of transportation that are unique to Ghana and other developing countries:

The Tro Tro is one method of transportation that usually utilizes a minivan and are used to travel anywhere throughout Ghana. Though an uncomfortable mode of transportation due to it being usually packed with passengers, it is still a viable option and the cost is fairly low.

In Ghana, there are also "hurry cars"; these are private cars that have set destinations and wait for passengers that are going to the set destination of the hurry car. They are typically found by transport stations and is definitely a more comfortable method of travel as opposed to a Tro Tro. The drivers of hurry cars will usually hold signs or give some type of information letting passengers know the destination they are set to go.

Another unique method of transportation is a shared taxi, which is the same concept as a hurry car except that fares are set by the government and is shared amongst the passengers; due to that fact, if not enough passengers board the taxi at once, the driver may insist on waiting to ensure the car is full of enough passengers headed to the pre-specified destination.

Other methods of transportation in Ghana include:

Major tourist sites