Report says Ghana is the second African country with the highest hotel room rates

A ranking conducted by STR, an American company that tracks supply and demand data for multiple market sectors, including the global hotel industry made that declaration.

Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa city ranked first posting the continent’s highest Average Daily Rate (ADR).

The survey said, “between July 2018 and June 2019, Addis Ababa posted an ADR of $163.79, while Accra Area in Ghana came second posting an ADR of $160.34 and Lagos Area in Nigeria, third with a rate of $132.51.”

It further noted that when it comes to hotel occupancy rates, Egypt’s Cairo and Giza were the leaders at 74.5%.

Cape Town Centre in South Africa placed second with 65% ranked second, followed by Accra Area with 59.7% placing third.

The Volta Regional Director, Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr Alexander Nketiah, who spoke after the release of the survey noted that the plethora of taxes, levies and fees as well as high utility bills contributed to escalating hotel room rates in the country and other African jurisdictions, which labelled as ‘high-cost destination countries’ in the hospitality industry.

He said regional average occupancy rates were hovering around 30-50 percent when the national figure was pegged at between 60-65 percent.

“A few of the hotels are doing well, but frankly speaking majority of them are reeling under severe hardship,” the Regional Director said.

Meanwhile, President Akuffo-Addo has noted that Ghana is on its way to becoming the next biggest tourist destination in Africa and the world at large.

He said tourism ministry has adopted the ‘Year of Return’ strategy to pull in tourists with the help of fashion royalty and top creatives across the world into the country

The strategy, according to him, is projected to raise $8.3 billion by 2027.