Ghana tourism grew steadily in 2025 with 1.3M+ international arrivals, $4.34B in receipts, and 7,109 licensed enterprises.

Accountability series

Ghana welcomed 1,306,962 international tourists in 2025, up 1.4% from 1,288,804 in 2024. That's a modest but meaningful increase given ongoing global travel and economic pressures.

However, tourism receipts told a more nuanced story. Revenue came in at an estimated US$4.34 billion, a decline from the roughly US$4.82– 4.83 billion generated in 2024. The drop wasn't due to fewer visitors it was driven by lower average spending per visitor, which fell from about US$3,743 to US$3,320.

Key travel trends for 2025:

• Business travel remained the top reason for visiting Ghana, accounting for around 31% of arrivals
• Visiting friends and relatives and leisure travel followed closely behind
• The United States, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom remained Ghana's top three source markets

This data suggests an opportunity: while Ghana is successfully attracting visitors, there's room to grow average spend per tourist through improved packages, experiences, and infrastructure.

One of the most encouraging trends in the 2025 report is the growth of domestic tourism. Visits by Ghanaians to major attractions climbed from 1.68 million in 2024 to 1.79 million in 2025 — a roughly 7% year-on-year increase.

Local travelers made up the overwhelming majority of visits at these sites, signaling growing interest among Ghanaians in exploring their own country's heritage and natural attractions.

Ghana's formal tourism economy also expanded. Licensed tourism enterprises grew from 6,702 in 2024 to 7,109 in 2025, a 6.1% increase.

The strongest growth came from the travel trade segment, which expanded by roughly 18.6%, with solid gains also recorded in entertainment and conference tourism. This growth points to rising investor confidence and expanding formal business capacity across the sector.

Ghana's ten most-visited tourist attractions collectively drew 1,377,588 visitors in 2025. Here's the full ranked list:

Elmina Castle

1. Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park – Accra
2. Kakum National Park – Central Region
3. Bunso Arboretum Eco Park – Eastern Region
4. Cape Coast Castle – Central Region
5. Manhyia Palace – Kumasi
6. Kumasi Zoo – Ashanti Region
7. Accra Zoo – Greater Accra
8. Elmina Castle – Central Region
9. Shai Hills Resource Reserve – Greater Accra
10. Aburi/Agri-Botanical Garden – Eastern Region

Interestingly, only a minority of these top attractions fall directly under the Ministry of Tourism — most are managed by other institutions. The Minister flagged this as a priority area, calling for sustained investment in the development and management of these sites to keep the momentum going.

The report also offered a rare look at staffing levels in star-rated hotels. On average, each hotel employs 101 staff members: 80 full-time employees (39 male, 41 female) and 21 temporary employees (12 male, 9 female). These figures underscore how labor-intensive Ghana's formal hospitality sector remains — and highlight its role as a meaningful source of employment, particularly for women.

Perhaps the biggest structural shift in 2025 was the official launch of the Black Star Experience by His Excellency the President not as a one-off festival, but as a year-round national programme. Rooted in the government's manifesto commitments, the initiative is designed to continuously rebrand and elevate Ghana's tourism, culture, and creative offerings. The goal: position Ghana as a preferred travel destination and Africa's cultural capital, spotlighting music, heritage, cuisine, film, and fashion throughout the year while deepening diaspora engagement and attracting new investment.

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

In a major cultural milestone, Highlife music and dance was officially inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2025, under the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Known for its lively rhythms, call-and-response vocal style, and guitar, brass, and percussion foundations, Highlife holds deep social and historical roots in Ghanaian life. The successful inscription achieved through collaboration between the Ministry, the National Folklore Board, MUSIGA, and other stakeholders follows the earlier UNESCO recognition of Kente cloth, further strengthening Ghana's cultural tourism appeal on the world stage.

Taken together, the 2025 numbers paint a picture of measured, resilient progress:

• Arrivals are up, even if modestly
• Domestic tourism is accelerating
• The formal enterprise base is expanding
• Culture is gaining global recognition
• A permanent national branding platform is now in place

The challenges ahead are clear too: raising average visitor spend, improving infrastructure at key attractions, and making sure tourism revenue benefits communities across the country not just major cities. With the Black Star Experience framework, ongoing policy reviews, workforce training initiatives, and fresh UNESCO visibility, Ghana has laid several credible pathways toward higher-value, more sustainable tourism growth in the years ahead.