An industry with great potential

Last year, Guyana’s tourism industry undoubtedly made tremendous strides, capturing the attention of the world with its truly unique ecological nature and adventure tourism. The tourism sector holds great potential. It can contribute, and has been contributing, to our development by helping to generate income, investments, foreign exchange, and employment for the benefit of every Guyanese. The administration, having recognised the true potential of the sector, has been investing wisely in its continued growth and expansion, which is quite evident in the 2011 National Budget, wherein Gy$150M has been allocated towards the further development of that sector.

According to the subject minister, the honourable Manniram Prashad, tourism is the industry of the future, and we must concede that the future of our tourism industry holds a lot of promise for our country. Indeed, tourism in Guyana has grown significantly over the years; and although it is still evolving, it has reached the major milestone of making our presence known to the world through excellent international coverage. This is largely due to the aggressive marketing initiatives and programmes being pursued by the Tourism Ministry, in partnership with the Private Sector, to put Guyana on the map and to realise our true tourism potential.

One cannot deny the benefits that can be accrued from tourism, since Guyana is well positioned to offer a unique and exceptional ecological, adventure and nature-based tourism experience to the world. Our country is blessed with all the right ingredients for a dynamic tourism industry: its irresistible combination of fascinating and breathtaking natural beauty, pristine Amazonian rainforests, numerous and immense waterfalls, array of flora and fauna, and rich biodiversity coupled with a vibrant indigenous culture and rich cultural heritage.

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh, in presenting an impressive Gy$161.4B National Budget, said that efforts to market the sector have been upgraded with the substantially enhanced website of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), which has additional information on filming in Guyana for documentary and travel journalism purposes, relevant maps and charts, updated weather information, as well as links to popular social networking websites.

From all indications, the tourism sector is on the move. Official statistics released by the Tourism Ministry show that visitor arrivals rose in 2010, representing a 6.3 per cent increase over the previous year’s (2009). Importantly, Minister Singh said that destination awareness will be raised by facilitating high quality video documentaries produced by agencies such as the Travel Channel and the British Broadcasting Corporation, adding to others already done, since Guyana is fast becoming a destination of choice for television series focusing on adventure and nature.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, there are some areas that must be reviewed with the aim of improving what Guyana has to offer if we are to really compete with the known brands on the international level. For example, there is need for increased focus on the quality of services being offered, and this could be done through regular monitoring of tourism services in the areas of accommodation, tour guides, tour operators, and interior lodges and resorts etc. The authorities should give regular feedback to companies and service providers with respect to areas of their operation that need further enhancement or upgrading.

There must be relevant and continuous training of the industry’s staff, since they need to be equipped with the skills and knowledge to cope with the demands of a competitive industry that is evolving. It is necessary for the industry to retain competent staff, so that they can deliver goods and services of a reasonably high quality expected by tourists. The government should also continue to invest in supporting infrastructure, sites and events development within the tourism sector, so that the capacity of the sector can continually be strengthened to offer world-class services.

Another issue is the cost of air travel to this country, which is still uncompetitive and is seen as a hindrance to more visitors coming. It is hoped that, this year, the authorities will resolve all outstanding issues and do everything in their power to ensure that patrons benefit from cheaper fares, which is more than likely to give a boost to the industry.

Finally, it is important to note that government can help to create an enabling environment, but every citizen has a role to play in ensuring our country becomes a world-class tourist destination. Each of us must become an ambassador of tourism by keeping our environment clean, projecting a positive image of our country, and reaching out to relatives and friends abroad to encourage them to visit Guyana.