- Tourism Traffic Concentrates Around Ghana’s Flagship Sites as 10 Attractions Take 77% of Visits
Ghana’s 10 most visited tourist attractions recorded 1,377,588 visits in 2025, accounting for about 77% of all tourism visits recorded during the year and underscoring both the growing strength and concentration of the country’s visitor economy.
The figures, disclosed by Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Dzifa Abla Gomashie, show the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park emerging as the country’s most visited attraction, followed by Kakum National Park and Bonsu Arboretum/Eco Park. Cape Coast Castle ranked fourth, while Manhyia Palace placed fifth.
Kumasi Zoo, Accra Zoo, Elmina Castle, Shai Hills Resource Reserve and Aburi Botanical Gardens completed the top 10. The ranking demonstrates the continued commercial pull of Ghana’s heritage sites, wildlife attractions, ecological assets and botanical destinations.
The numbers arrive at a time when tourism is assuming greater economic significance for Ghana. International tourist arrivals reached about 1.30 million in 2025, up from more than 1.20 million in 2024, while international tourism generated an estimated US$4.34 billion in revenue.
Domestic tourism also expanded, with visits increasing 7% from 1.68 million in 2024 to 1.79 million in 2025. Together, the figures suggest tourism is becoming an increasingly important part of Ghana’s services economy and a potentially stronger source of jobs, investment and foreign exchange.
But the concentration of 77.00% of recorded visits among just 10 attractions raises an important policy question. Ghana may be succeeding in drawing traffic to its best-known sites, but a large share of the country’s tourism assets appears to remain outside the main commercial flow.
That matters because tourism’s economic value extends far beyond gate receipts. A visitor to Kakum National Park or Cape Coast Castle can also spend on hotels, restaurants, transport, tour guides, entertainment, crafts and local food, spreading the economic benefit through a wider network of businesses.
The challenge for policymakers is therefore no longer simply how to attract more visitors. It is how to increase spending per visitor, extend the number of nights tourists stay and encourage them to travel beyond the handful of destinations that currently dominate the market.
The Central Region offers perhaps the clearest example of how such a strategy could work. Kakum National Park, Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle all rank among the top 10, creating the foundations for a tourism circuit capable of connecting heritage, nature, beaches, hospitality and cultural experiences.
Developing stronger tourism clusters around such destinations could encourage longer stays and support private investment in accommodation, restaurants and transport. Similar opportunities exist around Accra, Kumasi and the Eastern Region.
The concentration of visitors can also guide infrastructure policy. High-traffic destinations require reliable roads, sanitation, security, broadband connectivity and digital payment systems if Ghana is to convert footfall into stronger economic returns.
At the same time, directing some investment towards lesser-known attractions could help spread tourism income more evenly across regions. Better marketing, road access and packaged tourism circuits could connect established destinations to surrounding communities that currently receive relatively little visitor spending.
That would be particularly important if Ghana wants tourism to play a larger role in economic diversification. Unlike gold, cocoa or oil exports, tourism brings foreign consumers directly into the domestic economy, where their expenditure can flow through highly labour-intensive sectors.
The estimated US$4.34 billion generated from international tourism in 2025 therefore represents more than earnings for hotels or attractions. It constitutes foreign-exchange inflows that can support Ghana’s external position while stimulating businesses across transportation, food services, retail, entertainment and the creative economy.
The developmental impact, however, will depend on how much of that expenditure remains in Ghana. If hotels, restaurants and tourism operators rely heavily on imported goods and services, part of the foreign exchange generated by visitors can quickly flow back out of the country.
Stronger local supply chains could improve that equation. Hotels sourcing food from Ghanaian farmers, attractions creating markets for local crafts and operators employing local guides would allow a greater proportion of tourism spending to translate into domestic incomes and employment.
Domestic tourism provides another important layer of resilience. Although local travellers do not generate foreign exchange, they can give attractions and hospitality businesses a more stable year-round customer base and reduce dependence on international travel cycles.
The 2025 numbers therefore reveal both progress and unfinished work. Ghana has demonstrated that its flagship attractions can draw substantial visitor traffic, but the next phase of tourism policy must focus on converting that traffic into deeper economic activity.
Success will increasingly depend on whether tourists stay longer, visit more locations and spend more money across local businesses rather than simply passing through a limited number of popular sites.
For Ghana, the 1.38 million visits recorded by the top 10 attractions are an encouraging sign of demand. The more consequential statistic, however, may be the 77% concentration, because it shows just how much of the country’s tourism potential remains available to be developed.
The next stage of Ghana’s visitor economy should therefore be less about counting arrivals and more about increasing the economic footprint of every trip. If that can be achieved, tourism could become a much stronger source of foreign exchange, employment and geographically distributed private-sector growth.
Ghana’s 10 most visited attractions
- Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
- Kakum National Park
- Bonsu Arboretum/Eco Park
- Cape Coast Castle
- Manhyia Palace
- Kumasi Zoo
- Accra Zoo
- Elmina Castle
- Shai Hills Resource Reserve
- Aburi Botanical Gardens
