By Sabatini Daniels
substantively to the post of
tourism minister
Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) President Kit Nascimento said airlift in and out of the country remains a major challenge for the local tourism industry which has been growing from strength to strength.
Speaking with Guyana Times International in a recent interview, Nascimento said Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) is basically the only airline which is servicing the country, and this is not good enough. “CAL is a regional airline that flies internationally, it is not an internationally branded airline, we need an internationally-branded airline, not one, but many coming into this country.”
The THAG president said he is aware that acting Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali is working tremendously on getting international airlines to operate in Guyana and remains optimistic that the minister’s plans will be successful.
Nascimento disclosed that he recently participated in the Tourism Ministry’s expositions in New York and Canada and hundreds of Guyanese there say they want to visit Guyana, but the prices for tickets to Guyana and back home are excessive.
CAL had taken up the slack and added flights since the exit of EZjet last year and Delta’s exit earlier this year. However, during the summer, the airlines drastically jacked up its prices, which received severe criticisms from government as well as travellers.
This posed an obstacle for persons who wanted to travel to Guyana, as they could not afford the airfare. He said THAG hopes to persuade a number of major corporate entities to support the development of the country’s tourism industry. “When tourism flourishes, every corporate member in this country flourishes, tourism is a trade in which the entire economy and all the participation in the economy benefits, so we feel that major corporations in the country should be supportive of THAG.”
The THAG president said the organisation also aims to strengthen its membership base and make them more active since the strength of any organisation is its membership.
“Membership involvement, commitment and participation are critical for the success of THAG, the leadership is dependent on its membership and if the membership is not actively involved, then the leadership of the organisation cannot do much.”
Nascimento stated that THAG will also be encouraging President Donald Ramotar to appoint Minister Ali officially to the post of tourism minister. “He has been extremely active, he has paid a great deal of attention to tourism, he has done what he can with a very limited budget at his disposal, a budget which needs to be significantly increased if we are serious about marketing Guyana as a tourism destination.”
THAG is a private sector-led organisation which has committed itself to the development of the local tourism industry by providing the highest quality of profession al services.
