Ghana urged to adopt year-round tourism programme to attract more visitors

The Executive Director of the Ghana–New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Mr Isaac Koumessina, has urged Ghana to adopt a year-round tourism programme similar to New Zealand’s to attract more international visitors and boost economic activity.

He said Ghana’s tourism activities were often organised by different groups at different times, without sufficient coordination among the agencies responsible for promoting the sector.

Speaking on the sidelines of the recently concluded 2026 Inter Tourism Expo in Cape Coast, Mr Koumessina said a coordinated approach involving the Ministry of Tourism, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and other relevant agencies could ensure that visitors have activities to engage in throughout the year.

“New Zealand always has a year-long tourism event going on. Every day there is something going on in the industry of tourism,” he said.

“Ghana is limited. It’s either a group is organising something today, another group the next day, so there is no inter-agency related event such as tourism going on in Ghana,” he added.

Mr Kumesina said Ghana could learn from New Zealand by developing a unified calendar of tourism events that would give visitors more reasons to explore the country, regardless of when they arrive.

“What we’re looking at Ghana to learn from New Zealand is inter-agency linkage with tourism, with the Ministry of Tourism, the GTA, other tourism agencies coming together to organise a year-long event,” he said.

He explained that such coordination would help ensure that whenever investors or tourists visit Ghana, there are activities and attractions available to showcase the country’s tourism potential.

Mr Kumesina also highlighted the need to improve engagement with visitors after their trips, citing the potential to encourage repeat visits through targeted promotions and follow-up communication.

Reflecting on the Year of Return initiative, he questioned whether Ghana had adequate data on visitors and effective systems for maintaining contact with them to promote future tourism activities.

He said tourism also presented opportunities to address youth unemployment, urging the Youth Employment Agency to collaborate with tourism authorities to train young people as tour guides and equip them with skills to promote Ghana’s attractions through digital platforms.

Mr Kumesina said sustained tourism activities and stronger institutional collaboration could help expand business opportunities and create jobs across different sectors of the economy.