…but high transportation costs, lack of infrastructure seen as serious impediments
number of tourist arrivals expected and those that are being planned for, there is need for diversification and upgrading of the local tourism sector.
“At numerous GTA (Guyana Tourism Authority) Board meetings, we are reminded that there are expatriates in this country who fly out to sister Caribbean countries for their weekend vacations. If we do not create safe and attractive experiences for this market that outbound tourism trend will only intensify. Marketing and product development initiatives must be in sync. Through the GTA, Guyana has embarked upon some new marketing initiatives…but as those who are in the catering business know very well, if you expect more guests, your menu must be up to par,” he added.
Continuing, the Director General said, “The fact that all ten regions have sent representatives to this tourism session tells us about the way in which tourism is viewed at the regional level; that a new importance attaches to tourism in the regions.”
Detailing the process, Sinclair explained that in 2017, teams from the department visited the Ten Administrative Regions where they engaged regional stakeholders about the initiative, explaining the concept and providing assistance where needed.
“In that process we heard from Toshaos, tour operators, village elders, boat captains; we heard from some regional officials who knew every creek, rivers, falls and passage in their region,” the Director General said.
Subsequent to that, the team returned to the individual regions in 2018 and asked that they identify a flagship project, an initiative which would reflect the best the region has to offer from the tourism standpoint, so to speak.
These projects, once discussed were vetted and reviewed internally in the regions before being brought to Wednesday’s forum to receive the inputs from stakeholders which would enable them to clarify the way forward with each project.
Sinclair opined that the gathering was filled with a “a huge stock of tourism intelligence and experience,” as such they should by the end of the session be able to identify potential sources of funding for the projects, opportunities for training as well as what budgetary adjustments and timelines may be more realistic, among other things.
Common trend
Regarding the presentations done by the regional representatives, Stabroek News observed common concerns raised by the representatives which ranged from the need for training opportunities in the Tourism and Hospitality sector to the high cost of transportation associated with domestic tourism.
Wilma Da Silva, in her presentation of plans for Region Two’s project, noted that there is “limited” tour guiding services in the region, as such there is the need for more training to be done in order to have the necessary human resources required for a tourism product that is attractive to consumers.
“To have tourists we need to have trained tour guides. We have persons there, but they need training and it’s an area we need to develop,” Da Silva said.
Similar sentiments were echoed by other presenters who, in their requirements, listed the specific need for training, in order to push their projects forward.
Meanwhile, Regional Chairman Gordon Bradford who presented on behalf of the CuyuniMazaruni Region contended that the transportation cost in the tourism sector is too high which he feels is hampering domestic tourism.
“We have to bring down the cost of transportation by people visiting. How many of you here have been to Kaieteur? Can we afford to pick the family up and go to Kaieteur? We have never seen Kaieteur, some of us but we went and see Niagara Falls and what have you….we as Guyanese must be able to see our country and if we can do that, we would be better able to market our products. Who is better to market our products but us, we can travel and tell people just like I am telling you here right now, but we can only tell people if we saw it. So we need to make tourism affordable for our own citizens, this is all our own, we own it but if we cannot get to see it how will be able to cherish it? How can we care?” the Chairman shared.
Candace Phillips, who represented the Rupununi Region, also spoke on this issue, linking the high cost of transportation to the need for better infrastructure.
“Of course some of the problems we have in the Rupununi cannot be solved by us alone, we need to reach out to the Ministries and other organizations to help us with some of this. Many of you may notice from the media the state of the road for example that is a deterrent to our tourism product. Who is going to take responsibility for that? The airfares have had a spike because of the oil prices, so that means you are preclude certain people from travelling and the cheaper alternative is the road. The road condition as it exists right now takes someone three days to get into the Rupununi. How many persons are going to take that journey?” she posited.
“It is not only creating beautiful packages or encouraging people to come, but putting those conditions in place where you can come and where you feel welcomed, where all the infrastructure problems we may have