The Deputy Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr. Iddi Ziblim, has commended organisers of arguably the biggest international tourism and aviation event in West Africa, ‘Akwaaba’.

The Minister, who represented Ghana for the first time at the 15^th edition of the international event hosted in Lagos, Nigeria, said his expectation had been exceeded.

“I never thought that Akwaaba is this big. I just thought it was a Ghana-Nigeria something,” he said excitedly.

Dr. Ziblim praised Akwaaba African Travel Market (AFTM), the organisers, for nurturing the event to be able to host several African and some non-African countries yearly. He believed the platform was a good one for the African continent.

He also expressed hope that the sister event of ‘Akwaaba’ here in Ghana named ‘Accra Weizo’ would rise steadily to the former’s status. Accra Weizo, the brainchild of the same organisers, has been in existence for five years and also brings together all players within the tourism industry to the capital.

Accra Weizo, which brought on board the government through the Ghana Tourism Authority this year, according to the Minister, “has a lot to learn from them (Akwaaba)”.

The Minister was also as a panel on the discussion on how African countries can reach out to its diaspora.

In speaking on the topic ‘Relationship between Africa and the diaspora; actions, challenges and the future,’ he used the opportunity to elaborate on the government’s initiative to declare the year 2019 as a Year of Return. He extolled it as a perfect platform to reach out to diasporas, giving them the opportunity to get in touch with their roots.

The Akwaaba African Travel Market (AFTM) is an international travel, hospitality and tourism event organised in Lagos annually. The event provides businesses, investors, professionals and buyers in the industry in the African region, to network and trade.

It also serves as a platform to impart knowledge and relevant information on trending developments within the industry. Organised by Akwaaba Travel Limited, AFTM is the most recognised travel market in West Africa.

Organiser, Ikechi Uko, explains that the word ‘Akwaaba’ which in the Akan language translates welcome, was chosen because of its predominance on the entire continent. According to him, the event needed a name that resonated with all Africans who are the primary targets of the event.

Source: Myjoyonline

CAPE COAST, GHANA — I was 5,300 miles from my home in Fayetteville. But I had read enough history to know that in one sense I was back at the beginning.

They cannot teach you in books how dark it can be in the tight, former slave dungeon that held a little over two dozen of us, people of many different backgrounds. We were tourists.

We knew we could leave at any time. A couple of people in our group shouted for the light as soon as it went out. The guide turned it on.

The thousands of enslaved Africans who had passed through this hard cell in Cape Coast Castle would have had no such luxury.

They had no voice at all, not one heeded by the slavers. Our young tour guide explained the men in that particular pen could stay there as long as 36 hours, virtually on top of each other, no hope of escape, no access to bathrooms, two meager meals a day. They were sprayed down not to cleanse them but to give them scant relief to the searing heat. And there was virtually no light, with windows too small and elevated to be of any use to the captives.

The guide told us the Church of England built a sanctuary above the slave dungeons. The enslaved Africans would hear the white Christians sing up above their heads. But no help was coming from up there.

The guide did not spare those African leaders who participated in selling other Africans, usually people from rival tribes. They knew full well the scope of what was happening at the castle, he told us.

After confinement at the castle, the enslaved Africans would be put on ships to sail for a lifetime of forced labor that was generational and for most would mean no prospect of freedom, ever. As bad as the cells were in the British-run castle, our guide said, the ship voyage was far worse. The mortality rate was high.

We explored the women’s dungeon, too, and the punishment room for women. The guide said there were twice as many men as women, and men who rebelled would simply be executed. But the slavers did not kill women. They were too valuable in this infernal market called the trans-Alantic slave trade.

[Hospitality, street vendors and ‘tro tros’ am

I was in Ghana with a small delegation to dedicate a rural church, the construction of which was partly funded by the church I attend, and where my wife serves as associate pastor, Camp Ground United Methodist Church off Skibo Road. The rest of the group comprised Sam Adu-Mireku from Camp Ground; Tom Greener, former Camp Ground pastor; and Bill Haddock, a pastor in Bunn and a mission interpreter for the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

By coincidence, I had arrived in Ghana as its government is celebrating 2019 as a “Year of Return.” It marks the 400th anniversary of when slavery landed at Fort Comfort in Virginia, and is an open invitation for all of us in the African diaspora — the continent’s descendants — to visit Africa.

Our trip in Cape Coast and Accra, the capital, and a few points in between was suffused with the famous Ghanaian hospitality, which for me, intensified the feeling of being welcome, of being home. The spirit was even visible at the modern, efficient airport at Accra, where I found personnel to be friendly and inquisitive.

This hospitality is a source of pride, said Sam, who is a native of Ghana. Of course, I found it helpful that many people in Ghana, a former British colony, are fluent in English or passably so.

An illustration of the hospitality came in the person of the Rt. Rev. Paa Solomon Grant-Essilfie, the bishop of the diocese in Winneba, Ghana, which includes the new church. The church, or chapel as they call it, is located in a humble town named Ekumfi Takyiman, southwest of Accra along the coast.

Traditions

Grant-Essilfie was tapped to deliver the sermon at the dedication service, held last Sunday. We had driven about an hour-and-a-half through the countryside for a sit-down on the preceding Friday. The bishop met us in the parking lot. We went upstairs and after a bathroom break – they call them washrooms – we sat down for introductions and chit-chat.

Grant-Essilfie invited us to another room for lunch and apologized for not having offered the meal earlier. His wife had prepared the meal, which included some dishes with which I had already become familiar: Plantains, red beans, chicken and jollof rice, one of my favorite dishes while in Ghana because of the spicy flavor. The bishop helped served the meal and made sure everyone had theirs before he sat down to join us.

At the service, he delivered the sermon, alternating between English and Fante, a native language in that region. No one felt left out.

The worship service proceeded in colourful fashion. A marching band of youth greeted the worshippers outside before the ceremony. Flags inside were posted by children in the Boys’ Brigade and Girls Brigade’, all dressed in white and blue.

In the worship style at the chapel, I recognized traditions clearly imported into the African-American church in which I was raised. We left our seat to bring the offering around to the front. For the members at Takyiman, this was a time for dancing as the singing, keyboard, drums and horns hit a fever pitch. The service unfolded at “Baptist length” as well, somewhere around three hours.

Afterwards, we were served lunch in what I took to be a fellowship hall near the chapel. It turns out, we were in someone’s private home, which they had made available for us to use.

The weather in the tropical country was also hospitable when we were there. It was the rainy season, but we got a little rain. I surprised several Ghanaians when I told them the weather was about 10 degrees hotter back home in North Carolina. (This was before the cool snap that fell the day after I returned to the state on Wednesday.) Ghana gets crazy hot February through April, I’m told.

You cannot fully assess an entire country in a week, and I would not even try.

But I guess the strongest statement you could make about a place is that you want to go back, and I definitely want to return to Ghana one day with my family.

In the distant past, the heavy door on the Cape Coast that led to the ships on the Atlantic coast was called the Door of No Return.

“As they go down there that soil becomes the last soil they touch on the African continent,” our tour guide said. “Because the boats are there.”

But he added the chains of the Door of No Return were officially broken. The beach-facing side of the door is now called the Door of Return.

I am glad I walked through.

Columnist Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.

CAPE COAST – US preacher Roxanne Caleb blinked away the tears as she emerged from a pitch-dark dungeon where African slaves were once held before being shipped across the Atlantic to America.

“I wasn’t prepared for this. I’m heartbroken,” she told AFP as she toured the Cape Coast slave fort on Ghana’s ocean shore.

“My mind still can’t wrap around the fact that a human being can treat another worse than a rat.”

Caleb is among the African-American visitors flocking to Ghana as it marks the “Year of Return” to remember the 400th anniversary of the first slave ship landing in Virginia.

The West African nation is banking on the commemorations to give a major boost to the number of tourist arrivals as it encourages the descendants of slaves to “come home”.

Cape Coast Castle, 150 kilometres from the capital Accra, is a major magnet for those visiting

The white-washed fort lined with cannons was one of the dozens of prisons studying the Atlantic coast where slaves were held before their journey to the New World.

A string of prominent African-Americans has headed to the site this year to mark the anniversary since the first slave landing in 1619.

Among them was a delegation of Congressional Black Caucus led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that toured last month.

‘CAN’T FORGET HISTORY’

For those visiting it is an emotional rite of passage.

“This has been understanding my history and my roots where I came from,” Caleb said.

“I am very thankful I came here as part of the Year of Return.”

Sampson Nii Addy, a corrections officer with the Montgomery police department in Alabama, said he and his family had found the tour an “education”.

“I think every black person needs to come around to learn history; how people were treated,” the 52-year-old told AFP.

“We can’t forget history but we can always learn something from it.”

Ghana, one of the continent’s most stable democracies, has long pitched itself as a destination for African-Americans to explore their heritage and even settle permanently.

In 2009, President Barack Obama visited with his family and paid homage at the Cape Coast Castle.

The “Year of Return” has added fresh impetus and the country is hoping it will increase visitor numbers from 350,000 in 2018 to 500,000 this year, including 45,000 African-Americans.

Kojo Keelson has spent nine years guiding tour groups around the Cape Coast Castle and says 2019 has seen a surge in interest as Ghana looks to rake in tourism revenue of $925 million.

“It’s like a pilgrimage. This year we’ve got a lot more African-Americans coming through than the previous year,” he told AFP.

“I’m urging all of them to come home and experience and reconnect to the motherland.”

‘LOVE TO COME AGAIN’

Akwasi Awua Ababio, the official coordinating “Year of Return” events, pointed to high hotel occupancy rates as he said “enthusiasm is very high and we’ve got huge numbers coming from the US and Caribbean”.

He insisted that beyond the major economic boost, Ghana was also looking to use the new connections it is forging to convince the descendants of slaves to resettle for good and help the country develop.

“Human resource is always an asset and we need to see how we can welcome them home to utilise their expertise and networks,” the director for diaspora affairs at the presidency said.

The African American Association of Ghana brings together those who have moved to West Africa and offers help to integrate them into their new surroundings.

President Gail Nikoi praised the “Year of Return” initiative by Ghanaian leader Nana Akufo-Addo and said the country was “setting the stage for future engagements and involvement of African-Americans and other Africans from the diaspora in the development of this country.”

But she said the authorities could still be doing more to help attract arrivals and convince them to stay.

“Dialogue and engagement is the first step,” she said.

While most of those visiting Cape Coast were not thinking about settling back permanently – they said the trip had opened their eyes to both their own history and what Ghana has to offer.

“It has broadened my horizons about how we came to be here and what our ancestors went through,” said William Shaw, 57, from Montgomery.

“I would love to come again. There is a lot more to see here in Ghana… at least once in a year I’d advise African-Americans to come back to their native land and learn about their history.”

EWN

Source: africa.com

Two giant tortoises stole the show at the 2019 World Tourism Day (WTD), held at the Centre for National Culture, Kumasi.

The two rare-species tortoises aged 40 and 60, were put on display at the ‘Wildlife Stand’ of the exhibition, to showcase the nation’s rich biodiversity.

Also on display was a royal python, a non-venomous type of snake.

The teeming participants, including some visiting Africans in the Diaspora, as well as visitors from abroad, could not help but visit the Stand to catch a glimpse of the animals.

Each weighing more than 50 pounds, the giant tortoises are some of the oldest rare surviving wildlife the nation could boast of.

Ms. Cornelia Danso, an Official of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi, affirmed their resolve to protect wildlife.

This is because those animal species were vital components of nature which ought to be taken care of in order to prevent them from becoming extinct.

The Commission also exhibited a pictorial layout of the variety of animal species the nation was left with at her conservation sites and national parks.

Ms. Danso hinted that Ghana’s wildlife estate consists of 23 sites, made up of seven national parks, six resource reserve, two wildlife sanctuaries, five coastal Ramsar sites and one strict nature reserve.

“Seeing the potentials of these sites for ecotourism, the Wildlife Division has opened the map for domestic and international visitors,” she told the GNA.

The exhibition was held under the auspices of the Ghana Tourism Authority, displaying the various districts and their tourism potentials, especially in the area of cultural, geo and ecotourism.

“Tourism and Jobs; a Better Future for All,” was the theme for this year’s celebration.

Source: GNA

The maiden International Coconut Festival will be on 24th to 26th September 2019. It’s organized by the African Coconut Group together with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.  The theme for the event is ‘Promoting Export Diversification through a Robust Ghanaian Coconut Industry” and is set to take place at the Accra International Conference Centre. The festival aims at exploring the untapped potential of the coconut plant.

Coconuts are an untapped resource in Ghana and the festival puts attention on this crop as a new driver of Ghana’s agricultural economy. The industry has the potential to reduce unemployment numbers significantly.  Coconuts are more than food, it’s also used in decorating, planting and biofuels.

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is set to hold this year’s United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) World Tourism Day from 25th – 27th September 2019 in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.

This year’s UNWTO World Tourism Day is under the Theme, “Tourism and Jobs, A Better Future For All”. The celebration is a special one as we commemorate the slave trade movement and celebrate African resilience in “The Year of Return, Ghana 2019”.

As part of the UNWTO World Tourism Day, the next edition of the corporate Paragliding Festival dubbed “Fun and Fly” will also be held from 27th to 29th September 2019 on Mount Odweanoma at Atibie – Kwahu in the Eastern Region.

Fun And Fly Paragliding 2019

Ghana joins the UNWTO member countries each year to celebrate World Tourism Day on 27th September. UNWTO began the celebration of World Tourism Day in the year 1980. India has been chosen to host this year’s UNWTO World Tourism Day. Its purpose is to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. The event seeks to address global challenges outlined in the United Nations Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and to highlight the contribution the tourism sector can make in reaching these goals. Ghana hosted the global community for the international celebration for the first time in 2009.

The Corporate Paragliding Festival which started in 2015 is the fourth in the series dubbed ”FUN and FLY”. It is organized for corporate entities and other organizations to make time off their busy schedules at their respective workplaces, network with each other and create bonds of relationships. It is an opportunity for passengers who could not fly during the Kwahu Easter paragliding to do so at this year’s Corporate Fun and Fly paragliding.

5 professional tandem Pilots from the United States of America and Switzerland and a Ghanian Solo Pilot have been invited for the festival.

The rate for a flight is Three Hundred and Fifty Ghana Cedis (GH 350). Provisions have been made for group tickets in respect of corporate organisations.

GTA launches Tourism Month

The month of September has also been designated by the GTA as the Tourism Month with several events including festivals to help the general public feel a part of the ongoing domestic tourism campaign of “SeeGhana, EatGhana, WearGhana and FeelGhana” aimed at boosting domestic tourism.

Activities outlined for the World Tourism Day includes;

• Exhibition of Local Products: Wednesday, 25th – Friday, 27th September 2019,  Centre for National Culture (CNC) – Ashanti Region, Kumasi at 10 am each day.
• Float: Thursday, 26th September 2019 ( from CNC – Central Business District and Back to CNC) at 9 am.
• Symposium: Thursday, 26th September 2019, Centre for National Culture (CNC) – Ashanti Region, Kumasi at 5:30 pm
• World Tourism Day Grand Durbar: 27th September 2019 Centre for National Culture (CNC) – Ashanti Region, Kumasi at 10 am.
• Corporate “Fun and Fly” Paragliding Festival: 27th – 29th September 2019 – Kwahu, Atibie, Eastern Region.

         Side attractions include – (King of the Mountain Cycling Competition – 28th September 2019 – Kwahu, Atibie

         Display of assorted local foods and drinks

Join the Tourism Month to #SeeGhana #EatGhana #WearGhana #FeelGhana