The Ghana Statistical Service will, from November 1, 2024, conduct its maiden survey on Accommodation Units across the country.

The survey starting from November 1, 2024, to October 2025, will be published monthly and two weeks from the end of the reference time period.

The survey will provide a short-term commercial accommodation activity in all 261 districts and 16 administrative regions of the country.

It will also collect data from commercial accommodation units that provide short stay accommodation to domestic and foreign guests.

Dr Ebenezer Kojo Ocran, the 2024 Accommodation Unit Survey Coordinator, GSS, announced this in Accra at a consultative meeting with stakeholders in the tourism sector.

The survey will collect data on accommodation units’ revenue trends, capacity, occupancy, number of guest nights, room prices, and other key performance indicators.

He said a sample size of 1,077 would be used for the survey, out of the total accommodation units of 9,602.

Dr Ocran said the Service would deploy 113 field workers, made up of 90 interviewers, and 23 supervisors, to work in the 1,077 accommodation units.

The data will be collected electronically using the computer-Assisted Personal Interviews software.

He said the main objective of the survey was to obtain baseline data to measure the level of supply and demand for commercial accommodation facilities in the country.

Touching on the importance, Dr Ocran said the survey would help the government to assess the broad industry performance and associated interventions as tax reliefs and credit facilities.

For the businesses, the survey would help them to understand the nature of operations and their particular dynamics.

The survey would serve as a strong baseline for the academia for continued research to monitor and study trends.

Edward Asuo Afram, Acting Deputy Government Statistician, underscored the importance of the survey, which, among others, would enhance revenue management.

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture estimates that by 2027, the sector will be the third foreign exchange earner, of which accommodation constitutes 30 per cent tourist expenditure.

Afram was optimistic that the exercise would ensure that stakeholders had reliable data to make informed decisions and improve the hospitality industry.

Dr Edward Ackah-Nyamike, President, Ghana Hotels Association, commended the Service for the survey, saying Ghana needed to develop the sector through the Tourism Satellite Account to streamline the system.

The stakeholders unanimously endorsed the survey and pledged to provide the needed information for the exercise.