Foreign tourists stay longer as domestic guests dominate Ghana’s accommodation market – GSS
The survey found that domestic guests accounted for the overwhelming majority of guests recorded across accommodation establishments during the period, with monthly domestic guest numbers ranging from about 1.87 million to 2.17 million.
Ghana's tourism sector is seeing a shift as domestic tourists increasingly stay longer than their foreign counterparts, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). In the survey conducted from November 2024 to February 2025, domestic guests accounted for the vast majority of accommodation visitors, with numbers ranging from roughly 1.87 million to 2.17 million each month. In contrast, foreign guests numbered below 40,000 per month.
Despite their lower numbers, foreign tourists generally have longer stays. In hotels, foreign guests typically stay for three to four nights, compared to about two nights for domestic guests. This discrepancy suggests that measuring tourism success solely by the number of visitors might not fully portray the sector's economic potential.
The GSS stresses that the length of a visitor's stay is crucial because longer stays generate more opportunities for spending on various services, such as accommodation, food, transport, entertainment, and other tourism-related activities.
The report emphasizes that tourism businesses and destination managers should focus not only on attracting visitors but also on creating conditions and products that encourage longer stays. Longer stays by visitors can significantly boost local economies, generating additional demand for services and spreading tourism spending across various sectors.
While the dominance of domestic guests presents a substantial market for accommodation providers and tourism businesses, the GSS cautions that this should not overshadow the importance of international visitors. The two markets serve different roles – domestic tourists provide volume, while foreign tourists contribute longer stays.
The GSS advocates for strategies to encourage longer stays, which could lead to a broader economic impact across local communities. This survey is part of Ghana's first nationally representative longitudinal study of short-stay accommodation activity. However, as the data only covers four months, it should be viewed as an emerging baseline rather than definitive evidence of long-term trends.
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