Ghana has made a coordinated industry push at WTM Africa in Cape Town, positioning itself as a competitive destination for leisure, business and cultural tourism, while also strengthening partnerships across the African and global travel trade.

The Ghana Tourism Authority led a strong delegation to the trade show, featuring both destination marketing efforts and private sector participation aimed at deepening trade relationships and converting interest into concrete business opportunities.

At the Ghana stand, key industry partners representing the country’s tourism value chain included Labadi Beach Hotel, Landtours Ghana, and Ashanti African Tours, each showcasing Ghana’s hospitality depth, tour operations capacity and experiential travel offerings.

Together, they presented a unified message — Ghana is not only a cultural destination, but also a well-developed tourism market with strong hospitality infrastructure and reliable ground-handling and tour services.

Strengthening Africa-to-Africa Tourism Trade

Speaking on Ghana’s participation, Ekow Sampson, Deputy CEO in charge of Operations at the Ghana Tourism Authority, said WTM Africa remains a critical platform for strengthening intra-African tourism trade and building long-term business relationships.

“WTM Africa gives us the opportunity to engage directly with African and international partners. Our focus is very clear — to grow African tourism from within and strengthen business-to-business linkages across the continent,” he said.

Sampson noted that Ghana’s strategy is centred on positioning the country as a natural partner destination within Africa, particularly for regional travel, heritage tourism and the growing MICE sector.

Building a Year-Round, Experience-Driven Destination

He explained that Ghana is deliberately moving towards a year-round tourism model, supported by structured programming across culture, festivals and business events.

“We want Ghana to be a destination where there is always something happening from January to December. That consistency is important for both leisure and business tourism growth,” he said.

According to him, this approach helps reduce seasonality while improving visitor yield and strengthening domestic industry resilience.

Leveraging the Black Star Experience

Sampson also highlighted the role of the Black Star Experience, which serves as Ghana’s overarching framework for integrating culture, tourism and creative arts into a single national brand proposition.

“The Black Star Experience brings everything together — culture, heritage, festivals, creative arts and business tourism. It ensures that every visitor to Ghana has a complete and immersive experience,” he noted.

He added that the framework strengthens Ghana’s appeal to both African travellers and the global diaspora, particularly when combined with conference and event travel.

Positioning Ghana for MICE Growth

Looking ahead, Sampson emphasised Ghana’s ambition to expand its MICE infrastructure, including the development of larger convention facilities to host international-scale events.

“We already have experience hosting major conferences, but we are now looking at expanding capacity to attract larger conventions of up to 10,000 or even 20,000 delegates,” he said.

He added that Ghana’s advantage lies in combining business events with strong cultural and experiential tourism products.

“When people come for conferences, they do not just attend meetings. They experience Ghana — our culture, our people and our heritage. That is what sets us apart,” he said.

A Unified Trade Message from Ghana

Ghana’s presence at WTM Africa therefore reflects a coordinated strategy — bringing together government and private sector players to promote the destination as a complete tourism ecosystem.

With strong representation from hospitality and tour operators such as Labadi Beach Hotel, Landtours Ghana and Ashanti African Tours, the country’s message was clear — Ghana is open for business, open for tourism, and increasingly positioned as one of Africa’s most compelling year-round destinations.