Ghana as a preferred African-American tourist destination

Abstract

With reference to the literature on positioning and images, this paper identifies the shortfalls with attempts by the government of Ghana and other stakeholders to position Ghana on the African American market. The growth in the population and purchasing power of African Americans, Ghana’s enormous heritage attractions connected with the Transatlantic Slave Trade and relative stable political atmosphere are seen as good prospects for positioning the country on the African American Market. However, such efforts are constrained by the general perception of Ghana as an expensive destination, a misunderstanding of the characteristics and motivations of the African American market, hostilities between African Americans and Ghanaians as well as the negative images associated with Africa. It is therefore suggested that a uniform image centered on the ‘Slave Roots’ should be projected by various stakeholders