2027 Budget must prioritise tourism development – Consultant

Emmanuel Frimpong, a tourism consultant, has urged the government to prioritise funding and implementation of tourism, arts and culture projects in the 2027 Budget to drive investment, create jobs and boost economic growth.

He said effective implementation of existing policy commitments would strengthen businesses and improve livelihoods.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday, Mr Frimpong, who is also the founder of the Africa Tourism Research Network, said the Budget should prioritise tourism infrastructure, sustainable financing for the creative industry and regional tourism development.

He called for increased and timely funding to rehabilitate heritage sites, develop community-based tourism, improve access roads to tourist attractions and complete abandoned or stalled projects.

Mr Frimpong also urged the government to operationalise and sustain the Creative Arts Fund and Film Development Fund to provide musicians, filmmakers, event organisers and other creative entrepreneurs with predictable financing.

“The creative industry needs predictable financing, not just periodic announcements,” he said.

Mr Frimpong said improved infrastructure, streamlined regulatory processes and stronger public-private partnerships would help attract domestic and international investors.

He also identified tourism education, skills development and professional training as priorities, saying infrastructure alone could not make destinations competitive without a skilled workforce capable of delivering services that met international standards.

On regional tourism, he called for support for emerging destinations and local tourism enterprises across all 16 regions to address the concentration of investment and visitor activities in a few established centres.

He said expanding investment beyond major tourism destinations would create opportunities for local businesses and enable more communities to benefit from the country’s tourism resources.

Mr Frimpong called for stronger tourism data systems, including a Tourism Satellite Account, to measure the sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product, employment and national revenue.

He said the Budget should include clear performance indicators, implementation timelines and accountability mechanisms to track government interventions and assess their impact.

Mr Frimpong said the sector’s performance should be measured not only by visitor numbers but also by income retained in local communities, sustainable jobs created and the commercial viability of tourism businesses.

“My key expectation is that the 2027 Budget should move Ghana’s tourism, arts and culture sector from policy commitments to measurable economic outcomes,” he said.

He said collaboration among the government, private sector operators, local authorities and communities was essential to sustainable growth in the sector.