Accra, March 20, GNA - Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations, on Tuesday said over 1,000 Africans in the Diaspora came to Ghana to witness the 50th independence anniversary celebrations.

Speaking when the National Association of Black Social Workers paid a courtesy call on him, the Minister expressed the hope that Ghanaians would do their best to let visitors from the Diaspora feel at home, especially at a time when the country was preparing for the launch of the "Joseph Project" on August 1.

The Joseph Project is an initiative by the Ministry to attract over one million tourists to Ghana by the end of the year.

The Association of Black Social Workers is organizing a trip to Ghana for the 33rd International Education Conference scheduled from July 29 to August 7, 2007.

The Association would also participate in the celebration of Emancipation and join the Ministry to Elmina where the Joseph Project would be launched.

The Minister said there was an urgent need to teach Ghanaians that Africans in the Diaspora were our kith and kin who were taken from us and were coming back home He noted that the Joseph Project's website had already had over 100,000 hits in less than three months of operation and urged the private tourism sector to be active to get the industry thriving.

Mr Obetsebi-Lamptey also expressed the hope that by next year there would be significant improvement in hotels to accommodate large numbers of tourists who would visit the country.

Ms Grace Minter, Conference Coordinator, said her group was bringing about 100 people for the conference and will also participate in the Emancipation celebration.

She said more people in the United States of America had expressed interest to come to Ghana but airlines plying USA direct to Ghana had been fully booked.

"The group was given just 100 seats on North American Airlines and people are even trying to pay more but there are no seats," Ms Minter said.

She said Ghana had been chosen a third time for the conference because of the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slave trade this year.

Ms Minister said 2007 also marked the 100th year of Negro National Anthem, "Lift every Voice and Sing," in addition to the fact that coming to Ghana gave African Americans an opportunity to learn more about Africa.

She expressed belief that many slaves taken from Africa to the Diaspora passed though Ghana, saying, "coming to Ghana means coming back home".