Iwokrama awarded Best Lodge and Best Chef for 2023 by Visit Rupununi
The Iwokrama River Lodge claimed the Best Lodge (2023) and Iwokrama’s Chef Colin Browne the Best Cook (2023) awards at the recent Visit Rupununi Awards Ceremony at Lethem.
The Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) said in a press release that the accolades are testimony to the diligence, devotion, and hard work of Iwokrama’s staff, almost all of whom are from nearby indigenous communities. The centre has been serving visitors continuously for nearly 25 years.
According to the IIC release, because of years of training, many residents of the North Rupununi area now have capacity in many tourism and associated fields, encompassing training tour guides, rangers, drivers, boat captains, hospitality, and food and beverage.
Browne, the release said, is a professionally trained chef who has served Iwokrama for almost 17 years. He is recognized for his culinary skills throughout the region and country. The tourism team is led by Tourism Manager Michael Patterson, who has been at its helm for almost eight years, and who is also a trained Iwokrama Ranger, it added.
The release stated that Iwokrama has been supporting the development of community tourism operations both on the coast and in the hinterland through support from donors. To support the tourism thrust led by the Government of Guyana through the Low Carbon Development Strategy, it added, IIC will be investing in more accommodation facilities and new products in 2024 and beyond. New tours for fishing and hiking were launched in 2023 with the support of the Guyana Tourism Authority and a biking tour is currently in development. IIC also has plans to roll out a health and wellness facility, including a yoga centre. The IIC achieved the Good Travel Seal certification for its tourism operations in 2023 and recently retained international certification for its sustainable forestry operations, the release said.
The IIC collaborated with the Government of Guyana, the Commonwealth, international partners and donors to develop new approaches and forest management models to enable countries with rainforests to market their ecosystem services while carefully managing their resources through innovative and creative conservation practices. In recent years, the IIC received support from corporate partners, such as ExxonMobil (Guyana), which funded the development of its science programme, and continues to provide an annual contribution to the implementation of this programme, the release said. Iwokrama brings together 20 local communities (approximately 7,000 people) who are shareholders and participants in its sustainable timber, tourism, research operations and forest management activities through complex co-management, it added.
Furthermore, IIC gathers a portfolio of sustainably managed and certified business models using innovative governance systems which include participation of the private and public sectors and the local communities, the release said. In doing so, Iwokrama earns an income from the forest and its natural assets while employing international social, environmental and economic best practices. Iwokrama continues to fund environmental projects in the face of climate change amidst the perennial scarcity of international finance, it added.
Visit Rupununi (VR) was founded in 2017 and, according to the release, is Guyana’s first regional destination management and marketing organisation that provides marketing, networking, capacity building and advocacy to promote the development of sustainable, responsible and wildlife friendly tourism services across the Rupununi.
Every year, the VR Tourist Awards and Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony honours the exceptional contributions of the region’s tourist industry’s leaders, including the winners of Best Hotel/Lodge, Best Local Guide, Best Cook, Tourism Personality of the Year, and Best Tourism Event. Additionally, VR honours persons of exception who have contributed to the growth of Rupununi tourism for more than 20 years, the release said. Shirley Melville received this year’s honour. Iwokrama has been a member of Visit Rupununi since 2018.