The most visited tourist sites in Ghana have been revealed.

They are: Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, National Museum, Kakum National Park, Kumasi Zoo, Cape Coast Castle, Aburi Botanical Gardens, Elmina Castle, Bunso Arboretum, Accra Zoo and Manhyia Palace, in that order.

According to the Top 10 Most Visited Sites in Ghana 2023 list by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), the abovementioned sites welcomed 1,157,632 visitors in total.

These sites are in four of the 16 regions of Ghana, namely: Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central and Eastern Regions.

The remodeled Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park in Accra received 208,577 visitors to top the list.

The iconic edifice initially built in 1990 and opened in 1993, was closed for a year and reopened on July 4, 2023, after a transformation costing approximately $3.5 million. 

In 2018, a $40 million loan facility was secured from the World Bank through the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (MoTAC). This funding aimed to enhance the tourism environment, address constraints affecting the sector, develop tourism sites and destinations, and support tourism enterprises and business development services.

On July 19, 2022, the then MoTAC lead, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, marked the beginning of the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Mausoleum.

During his presentation of the 2024 Budget, then Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta informed parliament that the memorial park, which is situated on the British colonial polo ground, the same place Ghana's independence was first declared, was, after the much-needed facelift recording an unprecedented GHS1 million per month in revenue.

“The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park was redeveloped, modernised and commissioned by H.E. the President in July 2023. 

“Since opening in 1993, the Park had the highest number of 98,000 visitors in 2019, during the Year of Return. However, four months after the recent face-lift in July, the number of visitors increased to about 150,000. 

“Revenues subsequently increased from a paltry GHS30,000 per month to an average GHS1 million per month,” Ken Ofori-Atta said.