The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has launched the 2023 Domestic and Outbound Tourism Survey (DOTS).
The survey which was launched in Winneba in the Central Region, according the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kwabena Annim, is critical for effective and efficient development of tourism policies and programmes for the country.
It is one of four surveys. The three others– Ghana International Travellers’ Survey (GITS), Accommodation Units Survey (AUS), and Tourism Supply Establishment Survey (TSES) are expected to be launched later in the year.
Professor Annim stated that about 4.3 million people enter the country yearly. He, however, said the survey which will provide quality data ranging location of tourist sites, prices and accommodation, could result in an increase in the number of arrivals into the country.
He said this will translate into an approximately US$1.5 billion tourism revenue in the next four years, along with over 1 million jobs.
“If we handle this sector very well, we are going to get about US$1.5 billion for the tourism sector by 2027. So think about 4.3 million coming in as tourist arrivals and how impactful that can be for the country. It is going to change our domestic expenditure in different forms,” he said.
The global economy today includes tourism as a key component. The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates that in 2019, the industry generated US$ 1.7 trillion in revenue and employed one out of every ten people worldwide. Although the next year – 2020 – experienced a dip because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the years 2021 and 2022 showed a significant resurgence.
“I am currently working on a report on labor statistics that states that at any point in time, we have 1.7 million people who are unemployed. From an employment point of view, the way to go is tourism, for an exchange rate point of view, the way to go is tourism; this [tourism] is the sector that provides us with an opportunity to address employment and foreign exchange challenges easily,” he further explained.
He added that as the country engages the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get a US$3 billion facility: “This is one sector that if we focus on as a country, we are going to get half of the facility that we are going to the IMF for. It tells you how important that sector is.”
The trainees were urged by Mr. Annim to relate to the aforementioned statistics in order to save lives, to handle the entire exercise with professionalism and focus, and to view it as a national exercise.
DOTS
The Domestic and Outbound Tourism Survey (DOTS) gathers, compiles, analyzes, and disseminates tourism data on foreigners living in Ghana.To assist in the development and decision-making in the tourism sector, DOTS aims to provide comprehensive information and statistics for the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), which will serve as a basis for computing the sector’s true relevance to the national economy. It will also give reliable primary baseline data that can be used as a standard to support future projections.
Over the past 30 years, Ghana has worked to increase tourism in an effort to achieve beneficial developmental results.
The 15-year Tourism Development Plan (2013-2027) being implemented by the government of Ghana can be effectively monitored and evaluated only when reliable, quality, and timely domestic and outbound tourism statistics are produced.
The DOTS, which seeks to feed the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) with data, is designed to collect all the necessary information for use by stakeholders. In order to formulate tourism sector policies and implement, monitor and evaluate development programmes, key performance indicators are required. The data for deriving these performance indicators must be collected accurately on a sustainable basis by Ghana Statistical Service.
