Despite successive growth in terms of visitor numbers for Ghana Tourism Authority’s (GTA) annual flagship event known as ‘December in GH’, hotel occupancy for tourists and visitors have declined in the last few years.

From B&FT Online, ‘December in Gh’, a peak tourist season which is expected to largely benefit hotel businesses across the country, has seen dwindling fortunes in occupancy rates according to data from the GTA.

The 2023 Ghana Tourism Report indicates that hotel stays declined slightly by five percent in the last few years, while Airbnb usage has been surging from 11.5 percent in 2021 to 27 percent in 2023 – with predictions of further occupancy growth in the coming years.

A B&FT analysis of accommodation trends and preferability attributes the situation to high cost of hotel rates due to the near-twenty taxes operators and patrons have to contend with.