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The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has projected that it will generate over $3 billion in revenue from the ‘Beyond the Return’ programs in 2024.
In 2020, the government announced that it had generated approximately 1.9 billion cedis from over 900,000 visits to Ghana during the Year of Return celebration in 2019.
Speaking to JoyNews in Parliament, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Akwesi Agyemang, stated that Ghana is prepared to host at least 1.3 million tourists in the second half of 2024.
He noted that the first half of the year saw nearly 600,000 visitors to Ghana.
Mr Agyemang added that the second half of the year is typically stronger, with the last quarter often outperforming the first three quarters, leading to expectations of an increase in the number of visitors.
“We are very hopeful that we would surpass, and we have also had some engagement with organizations in the U.K., which is number 3 on the list for us, second to Nigeria, to promote Ghana strongly on the UK market.
“In all, it is about 3.8 billion that we anticipate coming into the country and we hope the private sector can take advantage of some of these things that are happening”.
Mr Agyemang also assured that major event centers, including the National Theatre, will undergo renovations before December.
The tourism CEO said that air conditioning had been a significant issue, but a few weeks ago, the ministry received new air conditioning units.
He added that the minister has instructed management to implement measures to ensure that the facility is upgraded to a higher standard.
“Although we are not directly in charge, we work very closely with them because it is one of the venues that is almost always booked. With the AICC, I know that the work that was supposed to be done has been put on hold for now because they did not get the required parliamentary endorsement.”.
NKONKONSA.com
