THE IMPACT OF TOURISM ON ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN GHANA

Abstract

This study examined the impact of tourism on economic performance in Ghana using Johansen's cointegration approach. It was found that all the variables, nominal gross domestic product per capita, domestic tourism per capita and international tourism per capita were integrated at first order. The results of Johansen's cointegration test indicated that there exist only short run relationships among all the variables being considered. The study found out that previous record of the international tourism had a positive impact on nominal gross domestic product per capita and this impact is elastic. As a result, improvement in international tourism will lead to increase in nominal gross domestic product per capita. The Granger Causality test also showed that was unilateral causality between international tourism and nominal gross domestic product per capita and domestic tourism as well as international tourism. Finally, it was recommendations that international tourism should be encourage in all media to publish the tourism centers in Ghana to the outside world to attract more international tourists. Also, Ghanaians should be encouraged to patronize the tourist centers as domestic tourism caused international tourism to improve.