Miss Heritage Global launched in Accra

Miss Heritage Global, a beauty pagent, has been launched in Accra as part of activities for the celebration of the 'Year of Return.'

The event scheduled for August 20 is expected to bring 55 women from various countries across the world to compete for the prestigious crown.

Madam Mudzithe Phiri, Business Development Manager, Global Heritage, said the Miss Heritage Global event started in 2013, by the Zimbabwean tourism, and for three consecutive years it had been hosted in South Africa.

She said the organisers during its inception wanted something that would invite the world to come and experience Zimbabwe and develop their culture.

She said because of the 'Year of Return' celebration this year, they thought it wise to bring the event to Ghana, and also because Ghana was one of the countries on the continent that had managed to maintain her local culture and taken it along with her as we develop into a more modern global society.

Madam Phiri said "Ghana is the country that we know we can invite people to come and really experience the authentic African culture and also be able to explore the heritage of the country".

"When we opened for application, we got over 70 interested countries, because Ghana had been marked as the country everyone should visit this year. This indicates how people are really interested in visiting Ghana, so we narrowed the number of participating countries to 55, 20 from Africa and the rest from across the world."

She noted that the 55 women were coming as ambassadors to experience the local culture of Ghana and be able to share that experience with their various countries.

She expressed appreciation to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) and other partners for embracing the events, assuring that it would be a whole package that would help share the whole experience with the rest of the world.

Mr Akwesi Agyemang, Chief Executive Officer, GTA acknowledged the organisers for choosing Ghana as the host of this year’s event which coincides with the 'Year of Return' activities.

He said the rate at which the GTA was receiving programmes to be enlisted on the 'Year of Return' project indicated how people were genuinely interested in the project and what it signified for the global African family.

He said "when we talk about commemorating 400 years of the first arrival of an enslaved African in Virginia, it feels like a sad story, but it is about the celebration of the African spirit. That people can go through such hardship and survive to produce so many iconic figures."

Mr Agyemang said they were excited to be part of the Miss Heritage Global event to showcase what Ghana had and what Africa has to offer and help to talk to each other, as well as promote trade among each other’s country.

He said the event was going to be a 10-day event, where several people would be coming to Ghana and it was the belief that this would be the time for Ghanaians to show the Ghanaian hospitality they were noted for.

Mr Kwadwo Antwi, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Tourism Development Company, launching the event, said they were excited with the Miss Heritage team for responding to the call by the President for Africa to come home, where warmth and culture were celebrated like no other.

He said Ghana was the epitome of culture and tradition.

He said they had resorted to marketing Ghana on the international market, and it was not just about the 'Year of Return', but also to let people know that Ghana was the place to be, a good holiday destination for sports and anything touristic.

Mr Antwi, congratulated the Ghanaian contestant for her nomination and wished her the very best in the event, assuring her that the whole of Ghana would support her to be victorious.