ABOUT GHANA Ghana Story The New Ghana Special Projects Radio Interview Photo Gallery Promotions Yearbook Memories Tour Operators Union Contacts ATA Congress Flashback New Golden Tulip Hotel in Kumasi Details GHANA GRAND TOUR Ghana Story- Introduction Photos 1 - Cape Coast Castles Photos 2 - Kente Weavers Photos 3 - Ceremony Photos 4 - Roadside Commerce Photos 5 - Tour Sites Photos 6 - Ghana Fashion Photos 7 - Bead Making Art Photos 8 - Slave River WORLD CONGRESS Photos 1 - Congress Activities Photos 2 -More Activities Photos 3 - Gala Events Photos 4 - ATA Trade Show Photos 5 - Delegates Photos 6 - Fashion Show

Photos on this page by Muguette Goufrani. GRAND TOUR OF GHANA- A GOLDEN EXPERIENCE! By Jerry W. Bird What was my impression of Ghana on our first visit since 1999? Upon landing at Accra's Kotoka International Airport my eyes were fixed like lasers on a banner newspaper headline that shouted its bold, positive message across the arrivals area - "Ghana is Safe." What a confidence builder -- and nothing in two exciting weeks of ATA 31st Congress activities, colorful galas and an educational, fun-packed, cross country tour gave us any reason to doubt the authenticity of that challenging statement. Our 2006 Grand Tour can easily be described as a "Photo Safari," and over 10 new gallery pages are available for online viewing from hundreds of images captured by Muguette Goufrani, featuring Cape Castles, Kente Weavers, Slave River, Bead Making Art, Ceremonies and Festivities, Roadside Commerce, Tour Sites, Ghana Fashions, Gala Events and the ATA Trade Show. Combined with superb photography by Robert Eilets and selections from Sandy Dhuyvetter of TravelTalk Radio, we are able to showcase Ghana like never before. Being non profit, we seek no financial benefit from sharing the sights and sounds of Ghana with a worldwide audience - and with other approved media upon request. Advertise Online. New York Times Travel Show . USA Canada Air Link Roadside Commerce This tour, with its focus on roadside commerce, creative crafts and cottage industries, was an eye opener to the amazing entrepreneurial spirit that is so dominant in Ghana. It is reflected in the latest book by Dave Fick entitled ""Africa: Continent of Economic Opportunities." The experiences enroute during this week long, dawn to dusk tour left a profound impression Starting with the Lake Volta Region near the Togo border, our journey took us to the provincial capital of Ho; then to the Kumasi area, home of the Ashanti Empire. Our agenda included Senchi Riverside Resort, Liate Wote, Afadjato Mountain, Wli Waterfalls, Tafi Monkey Sanctuary, Abenyinase Kente Weavers, Cedi Beads, Oumasi, Shai Hills Game Reserve, Bunsu Arboretum, the Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary, Ejisu Bease, Bonwire Village, home of the Kente Weavers, Ntoso, the Adinkra Printing Village, plus Ahwiaa, the Carving Village. We visited the the Ghana Tourism Board's Kumasi office and Crafts Center, plus a new luxury resort at Lake Bosomtwe. One of the most meaningful sites was NNonkonsuo, the Slave River Memorial Center. Enroute to Kakum National Forest, with its famous rope bridges, we stopped to watch a family operation producing palm oil. The final leg of our journey involved Elmina and Cape Coast Castles. Continued Flashback The ATA-WTO World Congress in Accra, Ghana was our last opportunity to spend some quality time in the company of ATA's dear friend Fred Fuller who passed away in June,1999. For a capsule profile of Ghana, we have included the following section which arrived courtesy of Joe Nyarko of Sagrenti Tours. A darker era saw many of our people, and those of other African lands, leave our shores for the plantations of America and the Caribbean, creating the biggest Diaspora the world has ever seen. Today, citizens of many states around the world still acknowledge and treasure their family links with Ghana, returning to explore those links and to experience the soul of their motherland. Today, come home to Ghana, the gateway to that African Heritage. Our celebrations , with great durbars of chiefs in full regalia, full of dancing and drumming, reverberate with images of our rich cultural traditions and reflect the passage of nature's calendar, so important in the preservation of our culture. Throughout the year and throughout the Country, our people love to celebrate, and the great sights and scenes reflected in these festivals create for every visitor, a memory to be cherished. If you're surprised by all this, you're beginning to get the feel of Ghana. One delightful surprise after another.   Natural beauty of Ghana Nature has been generous to Ghana. Few natural attractions can compare with the land of Ghana. National Parks, such as the rain forest of Kakum, or the broad Savannah of Mole, are havens for indigenous flora and fauna, safe from predatory man. Ghana is a bird watcher's paradise and nature lover's delight. Forest walks captivate the senses, as butterflies flit from flower to flower, and shafts of sunlight illuminate tiny orchids and other native flowers. Products of our indigenous trees and plants have always enriched medical knowledge throughout the world. The variety of landscape is matched by striking seasonal and regional contrast. The greens of the hillsides just after the rains, and the golds and ochres of the Savannah in the dry season. Panafest As part of the ongoing commitment to enhance the historical, cultural and spiritual focus of PANAFEST, the schedule includes a Pre-Panafest Pilgrimage called "On The Slave Route To PANAFEST,"  - Part I of the PANAFEST program and allows the participants to experience the courses of the Slave Trade route of the old Gold Coast. For details visit http://www.panafest.org/ Ghana Joseph Project The Ghana Government intends to use the year 2007, 50th Anniversary of the country's independence, to celebrate African excellence and to inaugurate the Joseph Project. Ghana will use the year to bring together, more closely. People in Ghana and brothers and sister in the Diaspora and establish herself as the true "Homeland for Africans" in the Diaspora. Commentary "I tell tourists about our heroes and heroines, politics and most importantly to me, investment opportunities in Ghana. I have done tour guiding for Ghanaians living within and without Ghana and people from all continents across the world. When tourists buy air tickets, the airlines pay taxes to the government. When tourists pay airport tax, government receives some of the the money at the end of the day. When tourists arrive and take taxi, sleep in hotels or guesthouses, eat in restaurants, buy souvenirs, and other gifts, all the service providers receive payments and pay tax to governments. The more tourists we receive, the bigger the monies. When tourists travel to our various attractions located in the villages, they go with their money and spend there thus pumping money into local economies". For full test e-mail traveljournal@ gmail.com African American History Month • Tour of the Cape Coast Castle & Eliminate Slave Dungeons and West African Historical Museum • Visit Kakum National Park (Tropical Rain-forest ) and Aburi Botanical Gardens • Tour of the Manyhia Palace Museum, former home of the Ashantihene • Tour of Kumasi, Capital of the Ashanti Empire; • Visits to the Kente Weaver's Village, Wood Carver's Village and the Adinkra Village • Accra City Tour, cultural display of drumming and dancing • Visit to W. E. B. DuBois Centre and Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park • Dance to live African Highlife Music as you cruise the worlds largest man-made lake, The Volta • Shopping at traditional and tourist markets in Ghana. For more information on visit www.africa-ata.org/ghana.htm http://www.ghanatourism.gov.gh ATA membership includes national tourist offices, hotels, airlines, travel agents, group tour operators, marketing and media executives. ATA has chapters throughout Africa and North America, is a member of WTO, ASTA, ARTA, and a partner in the Green Globe program of the World Travel and Tourism Council. ATA organizes an annual marketing conference and international congress in Africa and a biannual symposium on environmental and cultural preservation, and publishes Africa Travel Magazine. Pre and Post Tours: African Ventures -> Ashanti Tours ->-Golden Gate Travel -> KTI- Kambi Travel->-Land Tours -> Royal Derby Tours.