Ghana’s tourism accommodation market shows sharp regional disparities – GSS

Ghana’s accommodation industry is experiencing significant regional disparities in demand, with some regions recording relatively high occupancy rates, while others continue to struggle to utilise available rooms, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has found.

According to the Accommodation Unit Survey covering November 2024 to February 2025, Savannah Region recorded the highest room occupancy rate of 63.7% in January 2025.

In contrast, Eastern, Bono East and Volta regions recorded room occupancy rates below 28% throughout the four-month period.

The findings highlight the uneven distribution of tourism activity across the country and suggest that having accommodation capacity does not necessarily translate into strong demand.

The report indicates that Central Region also recorded consistently high accommodation utilisation, with bed occupancy remaining above 70% throughout the period.

Central Region recorded bed occupancy rates of 70.6% in November 2024, 72.3% in December, 71.7% in January and 73.8% in February.

Western Region also recorded relatively strong bed occupancy, reaching 77.2% in December 2024 before easing to 70.5% in February 2025.

Meanwhile, the Greater Accra continued to account for the largest accommodation capacity in the country, but its room occupancy remained around 41% to 48% during the period.

The GSS said the regional differences demonstrate why national averages alone may not provide a complete picture of Ghana’s tourism accommodation market.

At the national level, room occupancy stood at 44.7% in November 2024, increased to 46.6% in December, declined to 44.1% in January 2025 and returned to 44.7% in February.

The report further found that available accommodation capacity consistently exceeded occupied capacity during the period.

Available room capacity stood at about 5.03 million room-nights in November, increased to 5.20 million in December and 5.21 million in January, before falling to 4.69 million in February.

Occupied rooms, meanwhile, rose from 2.25 million in November to 2.42 million in December before declining to 2.30 million in January and 2.10 million in February.

Domestic tourism remains key

The survey also shows that domestic visitors accounted for the overwhelming majority of recorded guests during the period.

Domestic guest numbers ranged from approximately 1.87 million to 2.17 million per month, compared with fewer than 40,000 foreign guests per month.

However, foreign visitors generally stayed longer, particularly in hotels, where their average stay was about three to four nights compared with about two nights for domestic hotel guests.

The GSS says the distinction is important because visitor numbers alone do not fully capture the economic value of tourism. Longer stays create more opportunities for spending on accommodation, transport, food, entertainment and other services.

Revenue performance also weakened

The accommodation sector also recorded weaker revenue performance between November 2024 and January 2025 before a modest recovery in February.

National Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) declined from GH¢603 in November to GH¢490 in January, before increasing to GH¢524 in February.

Average Daily Rate (ADR) followed a similar pattern, falling from GH¢1,351 in November to GH¢1,112 in January before recovering in February.

Greater Accra recorded the highest RevPAR throughout the period, although it also experienced a decline from GH¢1,165 in November to GH¢852 in January before recovering to GH¢935 in February.

The GSS therefore says the key issue for Ghana’s accommodation sector is not simply whether more hotels and other facilities are needed, but how effectively existing capacity is being converted into sustained demand and revenue.

It recommends that tourism planning pay greater attention to utilisation, regional demand patterns, destination development, infrastructure, events, marketing and accessibility.

The Service also says investment decisions should be based on demonstrated demand and utilisation rather than accommodation capacity alone.

The report cautions that the findings cover only four months and should therefore be treated as an emerging baseline rather than evidence of long-term trends.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.