Georgetown: The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Tourism Ministry are reporting tremendous success and cooperation by the various tourism stakeholders in registering their business.
According to the GTA Director, Indranauth Haralsingh, the Tourism Regulatory body has so far recorded an 88% registration rate for local tourism businesses and will soon move to the licensing phase.
He explained, “We have a total of 235 such entities . So far we have had an 88 % registration rate which is extremely high and a very favorable indicator of their (tourism businesses) willingness to participate and improve their quality of service and standards.”
There are four sets of regulations governing and covering Accommodation Establishments, Tour Guides, Interior Lodges and Resorts, and Tour Operators.
Haralsingh noted too that the GTA is striving to prepare the local businesses to become more competitive and to ensure that these establishments meet the minimum requirements that is expected by any tourist or visitor visiting any one of these facilities, whether overseas or locals.
“Their compliance is a clear indication of their willingness to cooperate. Whether the clients are Guyanese or tourists, they all deserve good standards, great service and excellent quality,” he emphasized.
In this regard, he appealed to the general public to avoid using unregistered Tour Guides as they will be doing this at their own risk.
He said, “The GTA’s Act and these regulations say that you need a license to operate any one of these businesses, we will not want our visitors to have a tourism experience with an unregistered and unlicensed business. What happens if someone is injured or has food poisoning? Who will then be responsible? I want to forewarn people to make sure that you check on the GTA’s website for a list of registered tour operators.”
The GTA Director further stated that the GTA will be separating these businesses and will provide a listing on their website; this will determine who gets support in terms of both local and international exposure.
The inspection exercise in ongoing and will be carried out is several phases , commencing with the Accommodation Establishments; so far 60% of these businesses have been inspected while 48 % of the Tour Operations have also been inspected by the GTA.
“The inspection process entails us assessing properties for areas of conformity and non conformity with respect of what is required by the law. We are at an early stage of development and we need the regulations, we are working to get most of our business compliant and to conform. We still have a reasonable amount of nonconformity; we are working with these places, as the law provides that we give additional time for them to put their house in order,” Haralsingh stated.
The first set of businesses which have registered and inspected by the GTA , and have 100 % conformity will be presented with their certificates of compliance ( license) shortly; the GTA will then embark on inspecting Interior Lodges and Resorts in their next phase of ensuring widespread conformity to the standing regulations.
The GTA Director made a special appeal to those businesses who have not yet registered, he urged them to recognize the importance of the exercise and the many benefits of compliance.
“The first step is to be registered. May have various reasons but no business is too small to be registered especially if people are putting all their faith and trust in you,” he urged.
The GTA will continue to monitor and evaluate hospitality institutions across the country in their effort to ensure that the Tourism Industry in Guyana continues to grow and expand.
You must be logged in to post a comment.