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A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Gabby Otchere Darko has indicated that Ghana is growing fast into the global Christmas destination, especially for young people.

This, he said is after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the Year of Return in 2019.

To that end, he said a necessary national conversation this year is how to build Ghana better into a major tourism economy.

“A necessary national conversation this year is how we build Ghana better into a major tourism economy. Since @NAkufoAddo launched the Year of Return in 2019, Ghana is growing fast into the global Christmas destination, especially for young people. Tourism is more our new economy,” the former Executive Director of the Danquah Institute tweeted.

The Year of Return, Ghana 2019 was an initiative of the government of Ghana – along with the U.S.-based Adinkra Group – that was intended to encourage African diasporans to come to Africa (specifically Ghana) to settle and invest in the continent.

It was formally launched by President Nana Akufo-Addo in September 2018 in Washington, D.C. as a program for Africans in the diaspora to unite with Africans.

The year 2019 was symbolic as it commemorated 400 years since the first enslaved Africans touched down in Jamestown, in the English colony of Virginia in America.

The programme also recognized the diaspora‘s achievements and sacrifices in the time since that event.

The Ghana Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture have lined up a slate of activities in “celebration of the resilience of the African spirit.”

Many African Americans shared their stories regarding their experiences in Ghana during the Year of Return.