The Chief Executive Officer of Maestro Africa Group, Francis Doku, has called for Ghana’s annual tourism report to be produced by an independent institution rather than the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).
Speaking on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z with Kwame Dadzie, Francis expressed doubts over the accuracy of figures presented in the 2024 Ghana Tourism Report. He suggested that a body such as the Ghana Statistical Service would be more appropriate for compiling the data.
“Last year we had a very long conversation [about] the fact that Kwadwo Antwi had said tourism had become the number three contributor to the economy and I said I didn’t see any evidence to support it. I still contest it because it wasn’t mentioned in the Finance Minister’s report or anything. Because the numbers we generate in tourism are supposed to sit somewhere. Somebody should have it,” he said.
Francis Doku referenced practices in countries like South Africa and Kenya, where national statistics agencies are responsible for producing tourism data.
“For example, in South Africa, it is the Statistical Service Department that releases the tourism report. Kenya also has a service that releases the report. Because you cannot be the referee and the player by yourself,” he said.
He stressed the need for broader discussion around the credibility and transparency of tourism data in Ghana.
The 2024 Ghana Tourism Report, published by the Ghana Tourism Authority earlier a few weeks ago, claimed in 2024, the country welcomed over 1.28 million international tourists, marking a 12 percent increase from the previous year. The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) says this growth brought in about $4.8 billion in revenue, which is a clear sign that the sector is recovering steadily after the COVID-19 slowdown.
While the GTA hailed the figures as evidence of a post-pandemic recovery and successful tourism promotion campaigns, some stakeholders, including Mr Doku, remain sceptical about the methodology used in gathering and reporting the data.