Domestic travellers are the main drivers of activity in Ghana’s accommodation sector, accounting for the overwhelming majority of recorded guests between November 2024 and February 2025, according to new data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The GSS Accommodation Unit Survey — the first national dataset of its kind — shows that domestic guest numbers ranged between 1.87 million and 2.17 million per month during the four-month period, compared with fewer than 40,000 foreign guests each month. The report highlights the significant role of the local market in sustaining the accommodation industry, noting that domestic guests represented the “large majority” of recorded guests throughout the period.
Hostels Dominate Domestic Demand, Hotels Preferred by Foreigners
Hostels recorded the highest number of domestic guests, peaking at 934,157 in January 2025. Hotels, however, remained the preferred accommodation option for foreign visitors, recording 34,144 foreign guests in November 2024 — the highest monthly figure for the period.
While foreign visitors were far fewer in number, they generally stayed longer. The GSS found that foreign hotel guests spent an average of three to four nights, compared with about two nights for domestic hotel guests.
Regional Patterns
Greater Accra recorded the country’s largest accommodation capacity and attracted the highest number of foreign guests, peaking at 30,588 in January 2025. The Central Region, meanwhile, recorded particularly strong domestic demand, with domestic guests reaching 872,358 in January.
Occupancy Challenges: 92,000 Empty Rooms Every Night
Despite the strong domestic market, the survey points to substantial unused capacity across Ghana’s accommodation industry. Close to 92,000 of Ghana’s roughly 168,000 accommodation rooms went unsold on an average night between November 2024 and February 2025, according to the GSS data.
Hotels hold about 70 per cent of the country’s room capacity, yet averaged around 40 per cent occupancy. Standard hostels, by contrast, recorded between 96 and 99 per cent occupancy during the four months, while all hostels ranged from 91 to 95 per cent.
Lower-rated hotels fared worst. Room occupancy at one-star hotels fell to 28 per cent in February 2025, and bed occupancy dropped to 24 per cent. Size produced an even wider split: establishments with 100 rooms or more recorded occupancy of between 83 and 86 per cent, against 10.2 per cent in February for those with 90 to 99 rooms.
Available room capacity ranged from about 5.03 million to 5.21 million room-days between November 2024 and January 2025, before falling to 4.69 million in February. Occupied rooms peaked at 2.42 million in December before declining to 2.10 million in February.
A Sector Central to Government Plans
The findings are from the first four months of the GSS Accommodation Unit Survey, a 12-month programme running from November 2024 to October 2025. The survey covers hotels, guest houses, budget hotels, homestays, hostels and serviced apartments, including both licensed and unlicensed establishments. It sampled 1,077 of the 9,602 accommodation units on record across all 261 districts and 16 regions.
The results matter to a sector that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has projected could become the country’s third-largest foreign exchange earner by 2027, with accommodation making up 30 per cent of tourist spending.
Tourism Minister Abla Dzifa Gomashie disclosed in August 2026 that international tourist arrivals reached 1,306,962 in 2025, up from 1,288,804 in 2024, generating an estimated US$4.34 billion in revenue. Domestic tourism also grew from 1.68 million visits in 2024 to 1.79 million visits in 2025, a seven per cent increase. Licensed tourism enterprises grew from 6,702 in 2024 to 7,109 in 2025, with accommodation establishments increasing from 5,210 to 5,424.
The Ghana Tourism Authority has sought to sustain this momentum through campaigns such as “Experience Ghana, Share Ghana” and “See Ghana, Eat Ghana, Wear Ghana, Feel Ghana,” alongside the annual Heritage Month initiative and the government’s Black Star Experience aimed at positioning Ghana as a top destination for the global diaspora.
Cost Pressures and Regulatory Burdens
Despite the positive demand trends, accommodation operators continue to face significant cost pressures. In November 2025, more than 100 hotel and hospitality businesses in the Central Region faced potential closure over unpaid Tourism Development Levy arrears exceeding GH¢1 million, with operators citing rising expenses for energy, food, wages, and national insurance that had significantly reduced profits and slowed investment.
The Ghana Hotels Association has also raised concerns about what it describes as an uneven regulatory environment, arguing that short-let operators enjoy an unfair advantage over licensed hotels. Association President Dr Edward Ackah-Nyamike has stressed that the concern of hotel operators lies squarely with regulation, especially taxation, levies and compliance costs.
Outlook
The GSS data suggests that while Ghana’s accommodation sector relies heavily on domestic travellers for volume, there remains significant room to improve occupancy and convert available capacity into stronger revenues for operators. Policy analyst Alfred Appiah has argued that the gap is a problem of price rather than supply, noting that if more than half of existing rooms stand empty, the first question for policymakers should be why they go unused, not how to add more. He has urged investors to look at budget hotels, hostels and serviced rooms, and wants policymakers to examine taxation, land costs, planning rules and financing — all of which feed into room rates.
As the survey continues through October 2025, with results published monthly, the full-year data will show whether the strong domestic demand observed in the first four months holds through all seasons — and whether the accommodation industry can finally match its supply with the travellers who are already here.
