The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has assured that plans are still underway to ensure the implementation of the ‘Beyond the Year of Return’ initiative.

The ‘Beyond the Return’ was set to be a follow-up initiative to the successful ‘Year of Return’ Ghana 2019 campaign which commemorated the 400th Anniversary of the arrival of the first recorded enslaved Africans in Jamestown Virginia in 1619.

But Deputy Corporate Affairs Officer of GTA, Kofi Atta Kakra Kusi, in an interview with Happy FM’s Doctar Cann on the Showbiz Xtra show shared that plans for the initiative was halted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kofi Atta Kakra Kusi, however, expressed confidence that authorities are doing all they can to ensure the 10-year initiative will be realized.

“The Year of Return generated a revenue of 3.312 billion dollars which is such a huge revenue. Based on this, we planned to bring a follow-up to push trade and investments as well as the creative arts industry and that is why we had the ‘Beyond Year of Return’ which is a 10-year spanning programme. COVID-19 slowed this down but we are still within the ‘Beyond the Return’”, he said.

The ‘Beyond the Return’ campaign is built on 7 pillars, namely, Experience Ghana, Invest in Ghana, Diasporas Pathway to Ghana, Celebrate Ghana, Brand Ghana, Give Back to Ghana, Promote Pan-African Heritage and Innovation.