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Barbados is well prepared to host the 8th Annual African Diaspora Heritage Trail (ADHT) Conference, which will be held from September 17 to 19 at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
Coordinated by the Ministry of Tourism, the conference, which will feature the theme Our Heritage, Our Identity: Uncover, Recover, Discover, is expected to bring renewed focus to the rich histories of the African Diaspora and provide further insight to attract the ever expanding cultural heritage tourism market.
Representatives from the Ministry explained that Barbados’ commitment to the rich histories and heritage of the African Diaspora was longstanding.?? These efforts have culminated in the development of the Barbados Slave Route Heritage Trail – Freedom Footprints: The Barbados Story, which participants will have the opportunity to experience during the conference.
This focus on national heritage was also seen in 2000, when Barbados hosted the 2nd Caribbean Meeting on the Cultural Tourism Programme of the UNESCO/WTO Slave Route Project.??
Tourism Ministry spokespersons have explained that "the purpose of that meeting was to rehabilitate, restore and promote the tangible and intangible heritage resulting from the Transatlantic Slave Trade, for the purposes of cultural tourism.?? In a similar vein, the ADHT Conference, which has its origins in a cultural heritage tourism initiative eritage initiative developed by the Bermuda Ministry of Tourism in 2001, is committed to uplifting mankind".
The event, which is endorsed by the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and is executed under the leadership of the ADHT (Bermuda) Foundation, is hosted in an ADHT participating destination each year.
With the primary focus of establishing African Diaspora Heritage trails that re-link African Diaspora traditions in the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, North and South America, the event continues to attract universal participation.
Information on the 8th Annual ADHT Conference may be obtained from the Ministry of Tourism at 430-7500 or email info@tourism.gov.bb.
nekaelia.hutchinson@barbados.gov.bb