Obama Went To Ghana. Should You?

Travel experts say the small, bucolic African nation is worth visiting before it becomes a tourism hot spot.

In his remarks to the Ghanaian Parliament last week, President Barack Obama touted the sub-Saharan country as "a face of Africa that is too often overlooked." He and his family then took in some sights, including a tour of what was once a major post in the slave trade.

Status differences aside, if a visit to Ghana is good enough for the First Family, does that mean it's good enough for you? Perhaps.

Ghana has long been a proverbial diamond in the rough. It's a small bastion of democratic government and peace that borders the unstable Ivory Coast to the west, with trouble spots Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria all nearby. For that reason alone, Ghana is not on many tourists' wish lists--but that doesn't mean it won't be someday soon, in part because of the president's visit, which thrust the small nation into the global spotlight.

Up next for the president are tips to Israel and France; for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton it's India and Thailand. But don't expect any of these places to generate the same interest that Ghana has, in part because they're already well known to tourists.

Ghana, by comparison, has a long way to go--even when held up against countries on its own continent. Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Namibia are already African tourism hot spots. Ghana, however, still has a primitive infrastructure; agriculture comprises 60% of the labor force; and the economy continues to rely heavily on international aid--$1 billion last year, to be exact.

You'd be hard-pressed to find five-star accommodation outside the capital city of Accra, where there are fewer than a dozen luxury options. Beyond the capital, you can find three-star properties and game camps, but little else catering to visitors.

Yet according to travel experts, Ghana is quickly gaining popularity as a tourist destination, especially after hosting Obama last week and, in 2008, the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament.

"Ghana is an overlooked gem," says John Clifford, president of luxury travel consulting firm International Travel Management, whose clients typically opt for African travel in multiple countries, not Ghana exclusively. "It's not on anyone's must-see list, but it's going to be gaining popularity," he says.

The reason why is that in recent years, Ghana has seen something rare in Africa: promising economic growth, in the form of rising GDP and a dropping poverty rate. That combination brings money, which brings visitors.

In 1985, around 85,000 people visited the tropical country; that number has now skyrocketed to around 600,000. In June of this year, the Ghana Tourist Board launched a promotional initiative with the aim of attracting 1 million annual visitors by the end of 2012. The board hopes to make Ghana the premier tourist spot in West Africa, with the slogan, "Ghana: Culture, Warmth, and Much More," as its rallying cry.

It's not an empty promise. Visitors can tour the 15th-century slave-trading castles along the coast; travel to Ouidah, the birthplace of Voodoo; or take a safari through the tropical rain forests.

According to Josiah Kwesi Eyison, a Ghana native based in Nigeria who is managing director for personal concierge service Quinessentially, Ghanaians are famously hospitable, and that the joy of visiting is experiencing the culture, its history and its natural beauty--without the luxury.

"Ghana is the birthplace of slavery and a little rough around the edges," Clifford says. "But if you want to be adventurous and have bragging rights saying that you've been there, experience it before the masses [do]."

In 2007, Delta Airlines launched a non-stop route from JFK in New York City to the Kotoka International Airport in Accra. Running four times per week, expect a flight will cost about $1,500 round trip.