Tourism in Ghana has been ranked 120th by the latest Global Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI).
TTCI measures the most competitive and travel and tourism destination. According to the rating agency, Ghana had a score of 4.6 and 5.5 for safety and security respectively. It also scored 3.0 in health and hygiene, 4.7 in human resource and labour market and 3.6 in ICT readiness.
In Africa, Ghana ranks 21st with a score of 3.04 Ghana, however, placed 6th in the West African sub-region, beating Gabon (119), The Gambia (112), Senegal (111), Ivory Coast (109) and Cape Verde (83).
According to the Index, South Africa ranks number one and 53rd most competitive travel and tourism destination in Africa and the world. The index forms part of the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and benchmarks the travel and tourism competitiveness of 136 economies.
The four most competitive travel and tourism countries in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) are South Africa, Mauritius (55th), Kenya (80th) and Namibia (82nd) the Index found.
The reports further say the travel and tourism industry in Africa remains green and unexploited for economic growth. With challenges, the Index stated that air connectivity, travel costs as well as visa policies and infrastructure hinder tourism growth in countries. “While tourism in the region is mainly driven by natural tourism, there is significant room for improvement in protecting, valuing and communicating cultural richness,” states the index report. Spain was once again crowned as the most competitive travel and tourism destination, according to the index. It also took the top spot in the previous index.
The 2017 top 10 most competitive countries are Spain; followed by France; Germany; Japan (which gained five places); the UK; the US (losing two places); Australia, Italy, Canada (up one place) and Switzerland (losing four places).
Europe and Eurasia once again are the region with the strongest overall travel and tourism competitiveness performance, with six economies in the top 10.