Year of Return generates $1.9 billion

A total of $1.9 billion has been generated into the economy through activities related to the  “Year of Return”.

The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, said the “Year of Return” program had also brought about an increase of over 200,000 in total arrivals into the country. Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi was speaking at a ceremony at Anomabo to inaugurate a tourist center and hand over facilities at the Heroes Garden which has been transformed into a Memorial Garden of Return to boost tourism in the town.

Before the refurbishment exercise, the Heroes Garden had portrait statues of Kwegyir Aggrey, Ekem Ferguson and Nana Amonoo I of Anomabo and now has, in addition, symbolic statues of people of the African diaspora returning “Home”. The activity is part of the Legacy Project by the ministry to commemorate the “Year of Return.” The tourist center will serve as an information center and provide a welcoming environment for tourists. The Minister of Tourism said the “Year of Return” had cemented Ghana’s pan-African legacy and had put a global spotlight on the country and helped to position it as a historic, cultural and vibrant hub and had as well changed the narrative of what was reported about Ghana and the rest of Africa in general. The “Year of Return” is a year-long event of the return of the descendants of the first enslaved Africans from James Town in Accra to James town in Virginia in the United States of America.

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Mrs. Oteng-Gyasi said the “Year of Return” had been largely successful and established Ghana as a preferred destination for the global African family. She said the memorial garden and tourist center at Anomabo was part of the social impact and community development project and part of the ‘Year of Return’ program, adding that it was expected to invigorate local businesses.