The Ghana Tourism Marketplace (GTM), a digital ecosystem developed by the Ghana Tourism Development Company (GTDC), is attracting growing international usage ahead of the December festive season, with inbound tourists booking a range of experiences and paying for services directly through the platform.
Tourists from Portugal, the United States, France, Germany, and several other countries across Europe and Africa are actively using the fully functional national marketplace to secure tours and events.
Speaking at the Volta Investment Summit, GTDC Chief Executive Officer Prof. Kobby Mensah revealed that more than 90 percent of tickets for the popular “Accra by Night” tour have been purchased online. “The Ghana Tourism Marketplace is already facilitating real-time bookings and payments from inbound tourists,” he said, noting that many transactions were completed using bank cards issued in Lisbon, New York, Paris, and Berlin.
However, even as GTM gains momentum, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA)—the agency mandated to market tourism products developed by GTDC—is proposing the creation of a new digital platform offering similar services.
GTA CEO Maame Efua Houadjeto announced at the summit that the authority plans to launch a “Visit Ghana” app that would provide virtual tourism experiences, support online payments, and enable bookings.
The proposal has sparked questions among industry stakeholders about the rationale for developing a parallel system rather than strengthening the existing GTDC platform.
With inbound tourist numbers expected to surge in December, the need for digital alignment between the GTA and GTDC has become increasingly urgent. Prof. Mensah noted that GTDC will engage the GTA to harmonize their respective roles to ensure that the state’s investment in tourism technology delivers maximum value through a unified GTM platform.
