Government spent just over $162,000 on the African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference held in September this year.

Some 48 dignitaries from the Caribbean, Africa and North and South America met at the Wyndham Bermuda Hotel and Resort for three days to plan the 2006 Second African Diaspora Heritage Conference.

The planning conference was held with the aim of reviving the initiative launched in 2002 by former Tourism Minister, David Allen by bringing together some of the best minds in a conducive setting.

The planned trail, similar to the current one in Bermuda, will be established in all these countries with the aim of properly educating the public and tourists about each significance site.

Bermuda established its own African Diaspora Trail in 2002 and includes historically important locations such as the Slave Graveyard at St. Peter?s Church, the Cobb?s Hill Methodist Church which was built by slaves in the moonlight and the Crow Lane location of martyr Sally Basset?s execution.

All of these locations are marked by commemorative plaques.

However, one person to question the Ministry of Tourism?s interest in reviving the African Diaspora Heritage Conference is the Shadow Minister of Tourism Kim Swan.

Senator Swan felt the $162,085.10 spent on subsidising the 48 dignitaries here in Bermuda, could have been better spent elsewhere ? like gateway cities.

The initiative, he felt was better suited for the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the effort appeared to be catering more to a local audience.

?At the conference the Minister and Ministry knew very well that hotel occupancies were dismal,? he said, adding that this money could have been better spent on trying to get visitors to fill the empty hotel beds.

These 48 dignitaries included the Angolan, Jamaican and Gahanian minsters of Tourism; other politicians and activists, including actor Danny Glover, travel agents that specialise in black oriented tours; historians and educators,

Bermuda was represented by: Minister of Culture and Community Affairs, Dale Butler; Elmore Warren of Fresh Creations; educators and historians Dr. Eva Hodgson and Dr. Muriel M. Wade-Smith; Corin Smith of the Gombey Cultural Connection; and Tourism Board Member Andre Curtis.

The first ADHT conference was held in Bermuda in May 2002 and focused generally on the identification, conservation and promotion of historic sites and venues throughout the African Diaspora.

More than 300 Government leaders, educators, industry and travel professionals from the US, Caribbean and Africa came together in Bermuda for that inaugural conference.