Ghana will earn GH₡ 1.179 billion from tourism by the end of the year as against GH₡3.3 billion made last year from tourism due to the ‘Year of Return’ initiative.
This means the country will lose GH₡ 2.121 in revenue this year — Beyond the Return — from the tourism sector largely because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture (MoTAC), Mrs Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, who made the point at the meet-the-press series in Accra, added that the ‘Year of Return’, initiated last year, sought to encourage Africans in the Diaspora to make Ghana a travel destination and the successful implementation of the programme saw one million tourist arrivals which led to the injection of GH₡3.3 billion into the economy.
“This year we are projecting that our number may hover around 400,000 by the end of the year and this will give us roughly around 1.179 billion by the end of the year. So, if last year we were able to make GH₡ 3.3 billion and this year we are only looking at GH₡ 1.179 billion we are losing a lot from the Covid-9 pandemic,” she said.
Mrs Oteng-Gyasi said following the success of the ‘Year of Return’ initiative, the Ministry has recognized the need to continuously carry out activities to sustain the country’s Diaspora relationship and build on the positive impacts of the initiative.
As such, the ‘Beyond the Return’ initiative has been instituted to build on the gains of the ‘Year of Return’ as well as promote the socio-economic development of the nation by rebranding Ghana on the international scene.
The initiative is built on seven pillars — investing, celebrating, branding, experiencing, giving back, promoting pan African heritage and innovation and providing diaspora pathways to Ghana.
Constance Evans-Kekrebesi, ISD
