Ghana is the Gateway to Africa. Pres­ident Barack Obama has endorsed it. Many consider US President Barack Obama's coming to Ghana as a result of our country's thriving democracy and political successes. But to us in tourism, the visit has spices of tourism in every respect. From the moment his aircraft touches the tar­mac at the Kotoka International Airport, the first statement he makes, his visits to the Omanhene of Oguaa and the Cape Coast Castle, his return to the Osu Castle and his public interaction with a cross-section of Ghanaians all carry heavy doses of tourism for Ghana. The fact that President Obama chose Ghana as the first country to visit in sub-Saharan Africa in an official capacity puts Ghana on the interna­tional tourism spotlight. Perhaps as a country we are underrating our achievements, especially in the aftermath of the last elections. At least, the terrible outcomes of the elections in Kenya and Zimbabwe, put Ghana in a special position of political pedigree which should sway the tourism traffic to West Africa in our favour. Ghana is currently third in West Africa tourism arrivals. Senegal is considered the most developed tourism destination in West Africa. Nigeria is second. But in their case it is the attrac­tion of oil which serves as the pull factor. Ghana's third position is also due to the excellent discharge of her political and democratic credentials. However, we are using this to position our­selves on the basis of the diversity of our tourism potentials and the warmth of our people. Per­haps, the 'friendliness of Ghana might have also influenced the choice of Ghana as Obama's gate­way to sub-Saharan Africa. The primary objective of Ghana's newly launched tourism marketing strategy is to attract about one million visitors by 2012. This ambitious project requires that our tourism products and services must inform and educate, build a reputation as a "must-see" desti­nation in West Africa and also improve our standing on the world tourism scene. The contribution of tourism to Ghana's econ­omy in 2007 was US$1.178 billion with a corre­sponding 586,612 arrivals. That is against the US$981 million receipts and 497,129 arrivals in 2006, according to the Ghana Tourist Board. The United States is Ghana's biggest source market with a high propensity of growth due to the Obama visit. The main target is the African­-American traffic numbering about 40 million people with the median income of between US$25,OOO and US$30,OOO who come here to trace their ancestry. That traffic is the heritage tourism traffic and that is why Mrs Michelle Obama, an African-American, is reported to be keen on seeing at first-hand, the Cape Coast Cas­tle. Many Blacks in the Diaspora have made it a point to make pilgrimages to our Castles, which served as transit points for the shipment of their ancestors to the then new world. Such pilgrim­ages remind them of the tragic circumstance under which their forefathers left our shores. It bears the same semblance as the Jews suffered under Adolf Hitler during the holocaust and for which the "Wailing Wall" of Jerusalem serves as the symbol of remembrance. The Jews make pil­grimages to the "Wailing Wall" of Jerusalem just to cry and inscribe their names. There is also no denying the fact that the visit of President Obama will turn the world's atten­tion on Ghana. According to Mrs Zita Okaikoi, the Minister of Information and Chairperson of the Publicity Sub-committee of the National Plan­ning Committee on the visit, the eyes of the world will focus on Ghana, hundreds of interna­tional media organisations will shift their atten­tion on Ghana and for the two days Ghanaians must take advantage of the opportunity, especial­ly those in the tourism industry." From the African perspective, it is said that officials, journalists and ordinary Africans have all made requests to visit Ghana during the US President's visit. This will help intra-African trade, especially in the West African sub- region. Though West Africa seems to have lagged behind in attracting visitors (only 10 per cent of the entire traffic to Africa) compared to their African regional blocs, the expected Obama's visit might present the countries in the sub-region with an opportunity to market themselves as virgin and unspoilt tourist destinations with Ghana as the hub. In fact, with the current global financial crisis, which calls for caution, the U.S. President's visit will open the spillway for an African tourism renaissance. This is due to research outcomes which indicates that the crisis is likely to have less impact on tourism as compared to other areas of consumer spending. It is expected that Africa will have an addi­tional 36 million visitors by 2010 and 57 million visitors by 2020. We, therefore, have a great opportunity to use the President Obama's visit to grow Ghana's share of the African tourist market Year 2009 is to uniquely position Ghana to launch her tourism credentials across Africa and the world like never before. Coming after the " Obama's visit, Ghana will celebrate the Panafest and Emancipation Day. The latter serves as the period of remembrance for the abolition of chattel slavery. Immediately after that Ghana will again have the rare privilege of being the first African country to host the United Nations World Tourism Day in September. At its 12th session in Istanbul, Turkey in 1997, the UNWTO General Assembly decided to designate a host country each year as the Organisation's partner to cele­brate the day. In Beijing, China in 2003 the General Assembly of the UNWTO agreed to the follow­ing geographic arrangement for the World Tourism Day Celebrations:- Europe in 2006, South Asia in 2007, The Americas in 2008 and Africa in 2009. The only African ticket fell on Ghana to host the entire World Tourism community. On the theme "Tourism Celebrating Diversity" Ghana will be the epicentre of the global celebration of the international tourism day this year. The nomination of Ghana by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) firmly secures our position on the world tourism map as a major tourism destination in Africa and beyond. Tourism is the only service where there is a positive balance of trade flowing from the devel­oped world to third world countries. Specifical­ly, tourism's economic activities effectively improves the livelihoods of the people through income generation, employment creation, improved infrastructure, increased standard of living and increased government revenue. The World Bank points out that even though Africa started from a lower base of investor arrivals, the continent now enjoys the highest growth rates of 7.2 per cent. As noted, even though Africa is relatively not known to the main generating markets in Europe, that is Spain, Germany, France, Holland, Sweden, Norway, U.S. etc., the UNWTO estimates that 36 million international tourists will visit African by the end of 2010. According to Christee and Crompton (2001), Africa receives just about four per cent of all inter­national travelers and tourism receipts. The UNWTO has observed that Africa's tourism poten­tial lies in its strength in the originality and authen­ticity of its products. North Africa attracts 35 per cent of the conti­nent's traffic, Southern Africa 35 per cent whilst East Africa receives 23 per cent West Africa attracts only 10 per cent with Central Africa con­tending with three per cent. There is ample evidence that tourism in Ghana made a late kick-off due to a lot of factors, chief among them being political instability. It took Ghana almost 40 years after independence in 1957 to set up a Ministry of Tourism, whereas Kenya established a Ministry of Tourism just one year after independence in 1963 and immediately allo­cated about 10 per cent of the country's entire land mass for conservation, the result being the Masai Mara. However, despite its late start, Ghana's tourism has made a significant impact on the socio-eco­nomic development of the country. The contribution of the industry to Ghana's economy in 2005 was US$836 million with an arrival rate of 428,533. In 2006 it increased to US$981 million with a corresponding arrival 497,129, according to the Ghana Tourist Board. There are about 1,600 licensed accommodation units in Ghana with almost 25,000 hotel rooms and 30,000 beds. The upmarket hotels (3-5 star) are currently running at about 80 per cent occupancy. Research has shown that accommodation (32 per cent) takes a chunk of the tourist's expenditure. It is followed by entertainment and recreation 17(per cent). Food and beverage; attracts 15 per cent from the tourist whilst shopping (supermarkets) takes 10 per cent. Informal shopping (Makola, Mallam Atta etc.) and local transportation (taxis, car rental, local flights etc.) all attracted nine per cent of the tourist's expenditure. Source: The Daily Graphic