Year of Return could be a permanent feature on Ghanaian calendar – Akufo-Addo
- Akufo-Addo has revealed that there are plans underway to make the Year of Return a permanent feature on the Ghanaian calendar
- He believes the success of the 2019 Year of Return is enough justification for the initiative to be institutionalized
- The president revealed that the tourism ministry is assiduously working on it
Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in
President Nana Akufo-Addo has revealed that there are plans underway to make the Year of Return a permanent feature on the Ghanaian calendar.
According to Akufo-Addo, the tourism minister and her able team are trying their best to see if the Year of Return could become a permanent feature of our tourism landscape.
Speaking at the Jubilee House with members of the Christian Council of Ghana, Akufo-Addo, said he believed the success of the 2019 Year of Return was enough justification for the initiative to be institutionalized and sustained making it a yearly historic and memorable event.
READ ALSO: Investments yield the right returns in Ghana — Dangote asserts
“The Tourism Minister and her team are sitting down to see if the Year of Return can become a permanent feature of our tourism landscape,” he noted.
“The Year of Return turned out to be a much greater phenomenon than I anticipated. I didn’t realize that when I first raised up the issue, it was going to turn out to be this huge.”
The president declared 2019 the Year of Return for Ghana to encourage Africans living in the diaspora to come visit the country.
The campaign was targetted mainly at the African-American market to mark 400 years since the first enslaved African arrived in Jamestown Virginia in the United States of America.
Aside the fact that the campaign was targetted at connecting African-Americans to their roots, the government is believed to have raked in $1.9 billion into Ghana’s economy, according to the Tourism Minister.
The government has since dubbed 2020, “Beyond the Return” in a bid to leverage the gains made in 2019.
READ ALSO: ECOWAS: All Central Banks meet over the introduction of ECO currency
Tourism Minister Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, revealed that a total of $1.9 billion was generated into the Ghanaian economy through the various activities related to the Year of Return.
She said the Year of Return program massively increased the number of arrivals into the country.
The Tourism Minister added that the Year of Return also improved Ghana’s relationship with the rest of the world.
READ ALSO: Investments yield the right returns in Ghana — Dangote asserts
Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page.
Source: YEN.com.gh
