Georgetown : The Guyana government is determined to make the only English speaking South American country a must-see tourist destination, and has committed to doing everything possible to make this a reality.
It is against this background that the first national tourism conference was held today at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.
The conference which was planned and executed by the Ministry of Tourism through the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), targeted stakeholders of Guyana’s budding tourism sector. It focused entirely on selling a better product of Guyana’s tourism industry on the international market.
The stakeholders were addressed by Tourism Minister Cathy Hughes prior to the official workshop session conducted by Strategic Marketing Lecturer of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus and longtime tourism expert, Jennifer Barrow.
Minister Hughes in her brief presentation told the gathering that, “you are the stakeholders of Guyana’s very important and growing tourism industry, you provide the product, the services and most importantly the experience visitors to this beautiful Guyana will yearn for.”
Tourism has been noted as a billion dollar industry worldwide with the provision of adventure, leisure, and eco-tourism and other aspects, most of which Guyana can compete with. The Minister believes that these provide tremendous opportunities for Guyana .
Minister Hughes explained that Guyana is blessed with a beautiful, pristine landscape teeming with activities, and the offer of life changing experiences that will satisfy any visitor.
While more emphasis is placed on getting the international tourists to visit Guyana, the Ministry also has intentions to provide Guyanese at home with the opportunities of seeing their own country.
“For too long Guyanese have not had the opportunity to enjoy our tourism product, and therefore part of what we want to achieve over the next 12 months is to encourage them and provide opportunities at a competitive price so they can see more of our beautiful country, so they can be the spokespersons that we need them to be,” Minister Hughes stated.
Over the years one of the challenges facing the development of Guyana’s tourism industry has been the availability of funds to market and sell the country, and develop product innovations among others.
Against this background, Minister Hughes advised the stakeholders that, coming from the private sector herself as a former tourism service provider, “we have struggled for many many years with this industry.”
The stakeholders were then told that the conference will provide an opportunity for discussions on the way forward for the industry, and the availability of funds for the various initiatives in selling Guyana’s tourism product.
“I must say that in the six months I have been in this position, I have been pleasantly surprised that there is funding available for tourism products and innovative resources that we can bring to the table…we can provide support to businesses in terms of developing your product document to access those funds.”
The conference’s foundation discussion was on the business of tourism and it fits into the Government's vision for the tourism industry. “I want to make sure that we put more feet on Guyana’s soil, more tables at restaurants filled with people and certainly more trips to our beautiful historic buildings and of course, Rupununi, Essequibo, whatever products and services you provide, we want to ensure that the bodies to support your businesses are here.”
The conference also discussed several other areas which are aimed at enhancing Guyana’s tourism product. These include; pricing and packaging, business to business marketing, and travel as a tool for education and innovations through agriculture. It also saw the participation of other local, regional and international tourism experts.
The event has been identified as the culminating activity for Tourism Awareness Month 2015 which was held in November under the theme, “Growing the business of tourism through product innovation.”
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