Ghana has been ranked at sixth position as a top destination in the world for American expatriates, who are seeking to relocate abroad for vacation and investment purposes.

The rankings, which was done by Travel + Leisure, a New York City based travel magazine, placed Ghana as the only African nation among 10 selected countries worldwide. Portugal, Costa Rica, South Korea, Canada, Austria, Ghana, Singapore, Sweden, New Zealand and Spain, have been ranked in that order as top vacation and business destinations by the magazine, which has 4.8 million readers.

Travel + Leisure, said it had narrowed down the list to 10 countries globally, taken into consideration and prioritizing safety, economic and political stability, quality of life, and access to culture and the great outdoors as the main indicators for the rankings.

There are more than nine million American expats living abroad, with more intending to go overseas according to the State Department, especially given the new freedoms and flexibility that many have been awarded and accustomed to, in terms of working and learning remotely. There is also a decision to be made by future retirees who wants to make the most of their later years either at home in America or overseas.

The magazine, however encouraged those who choose to travel to check local government restrictions, rules, and safety measures related to COVID-19 and take personal comfort levels and health conditions into consideration before departing to any of these countries.

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyeman, expressing delight at the news, told the B&FT that the rankings would go a long way to positively encourage the authority, the Tourism Ministry and the Diaspora Office at the Presidency on the amount of work that has been done in the last few years.

“We started a massive repositioning of Ghana during the Year of Return in 2019, and following through with the ‘Beyond the Return’. The Committee has already been launched by the President and some works have started. We are encouraged by these rankings not to be complacent but rather do more,” Mr. Agyeman said.

‘Beyond the Return’ is a government initiative to promote tourism and home coming of African Americans and Ghanaians in the Diasporas and to foster economic relations and investments from the diaspora.