Georgetown: The littering problem is sweeping the country and has far reaching impacts on all sections of society, thus creating an impact on the Tourism Sector, according to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds who was speaking at the sixth Annual Tourism Excellence Awards Ceremony 2012 Wednesday evening.
The event was held at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC.), East Coast Demerara.
The Prime Minister said tourism is a vital sector which holds great promise for Guyana’s economy and which continues to record tremendous growth.
Alluding to the progressive increase in arrival figures, he said, “We can see that efforts to grow the industry are bearing fruit. The Government continues to improve infrastructure to support this; the Cheddi Jagan Airport expansion and the Marriott Hotel are examples of this.”
He noted too that this is a significant time in the sector’s history when several promotions have been launched, including the Re-Discover Home initiative, to attract more persons to the destination.
“Tourism is taking off after a long gestation period,” he declared.
In this regard, Hinds assured that the Government remains committed to addressing the issues that affect the industry, particularly the need for reliable airlift to and from the destination, and will continue to engage airlines to resolve the issue.
As to the success of the overall thrust to develop and market Guyana’s tourism product, Prime Minister Hinds extolled the efforts of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister, Irfaan Ali.
Despite the evident success of the tourism sector, Hinds conceded that there are many challenges left to overcome; key among them is the littering problem sweeping the country, which he acknowledged has far reaching impacts on all sections of society.
He explained, “We have challenges, especially in terms of the environment; all across the country we see littering…we must do something about this negative behavior. We cannot let this detract from our efforts to promote tourism; we can change for the better.”
In closing, the Prime Minister encouraged all stakeholders and the awardees to build on their success and seek to improve the industry; he also pointed to the importance of competition within the sector in reaching greater heights.
“On this note, I want to commend the Pegasus on their upgrades. Let us look at our future development in this light and use the opportunity to compete even as we collaborate and partner,” Hinds stated.
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