British investor calls for review of visa fees to boost tourism

Ho, Nov. 18, GNA - High visa fees are a disincentive to potential European tourists wishing to visit Ghana, Mr Graham Smith a British investor said at the Volta Trade and Investment Fair in Ho on Tuesday.

He said Ghana has a lot of tourist attractions but high visa fees and the lengthy processes involved in acquiring such visas turned potential tourists away from the country.

"It is cheaper and much easier to get visa for South Africa, Namibia and Botswana though the distance from the United Kingdom to those countries is longer than Ghana" Mr Graham said.

"This situation is affecting business and tourism as individual European tourists, students and investors find it cheaper and easier travelling to the south", Mr Smith said.

He therefore appealed to the government to urgently review visa fees, air tickets, ease visa requirements and make them easily accessible to promote tourism and business in the country.

The "National Tourism Marketing Strategy 2009-2012: Making Tourism the lead sector of Ghana's economy" shows that "Senegal's visa fees ranges from 3.15 pounds to 10.50 pounds for visas for one to 90 days. Citizens of European Union member states do not require visas for a visit up to 90 days."

"In contrast, visas to Ghana cost 30 pounds for a single entry and take between four and 10 working days to process."

The publication said "currently out of the four sub-regional blocs in Africa (Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western) West Africa has the smallest share of visitors."

It predicted that Africa will have an additional 27 million tourists by 2010 and 57 million by 2010.

The publication put Ghana's target at one million tourists by 2012.

GNA