The Ministry of Tourism in Bridgetown have recently created a new project with the aim of boosting tourism in Barbados and Richard Sealy, the Tourism Minister has announced that it will be focused around the Barbados Slave Trade.

The project has been named as 'Freedom Footprints, the Barbados Story' and falls in line with the island country's aim to diversify it's product offerings through the creation of new and different experiences for repeat and new visitors to the island.

The project will be developed in numerous places across Barbados that have some significance to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Visitors will be able to explore many areas including Gun Hill Signal Station and the Newton burial ground to learn about the Slave Trade's effects on Barbados and its people.

The initiative is being developed by the Barbados Museum and Historical Society (BMHS) with the aim of garnering segments of the heritage tourism market. Richard Sealy described the project as a 'wonderful... and a neccessary project' because the days when people coming to Barbados to 'leave with a tan earned from being on the sand and having had a dip in the sea to feel good'- are over.

Mr Sealy has recognised the importance of growing Barbados' heritage tourism both for the community and to make Barbados a more versatile destination, and has urged residents to take part in the initiative. He stated that the project itself will be environmentally friendly, community-focused and intellectually uplifting. 

source: Caribseek, Caribbean News at: http://news.caribseek.com/Barbados/Daily_Nation/article_88567.shtml