Cabinet finished ‘reshaping’ draft tourism policy
Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin
Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin

–document to be again tabled in the House

THE draft National Tourism Policy is one step closer to realisation, as it has been reviewed and modified by Cabinet and will be sent for consideration again next week.

Minister of Business with responsibility for tourism, Dominic Gaskin has told the Guyana Chronicle that the policy was recently “examined” by members of Cabinet and has been reshaped.

“A number of ministers made a number of suggestions,” Minister Gaskin said, and that they have all been taken into account and incorporated into the document. He, however, said that none of the suggestions that were made were “major”.

And while he did not wish to disclose the newer contents of the policy until Cabinet has given its full blessing, he did mention that other government ministers have made worthwhile contributions to bettering the bill, vis-à-vis their suggestions.

Among those suggestions, he said, were that emphasis should be placed on ‘agro-tourism’, and that something should be done to boost “airlift” to Guyana.

He also noted that while the policy has not yet been approved by Cabinet, it has “been referred to a Cabinet sub-committee.”

COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENT
The proposed National Tourism Policy is reportedly a comprehensive document that is expected to guide the sector over the next two decades.
Minister Gaskin had mentioned in a recent interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) has been adhering to the policy’s action plan since 2016, as it conducts its various programmes.

The policy details measures that which will aid in promoting Guyana as the ideal tourist destination. Chief among these measures, as underscored by the minister, is the training of locals to develop the necessary human resources needed to drive the industry.

“Training is an important component of what the GTA does,” Minister Gaskin had said. “Last year they would have trained hundreds of persons from various establishments in different aspects of the tourism services,” he’d told the DPI during the interview.

He said, too, that the policy will also focus on developing new activities in the country, investment, and marketing of industries in the tourism sector.

Also adding to the efforts of promoting “Destination Guyana” was the recent appointment of US-based Brian Mullis as the new head of the GTA.

NEW GTA DIRECTOR
As Minister of State Joseph Harmon had said when the announcement was made, “The appointment of a new Director of Tourism is part of the restructuring of the Guyana Tourism Authority, which began in early 2017 and is expected to boost the development of sustainable tourist destinations, especially in the hinterland, and to promote strategic marketing of ‘Destination Guyana’.”

The Tourism Sector has been identified as one of the key drivers of economic growth in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)’s Strategic Plan for 2015 to 2019.
It is a sustainable industry with a myriad of sub-sectors that can contribute significantly to a country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

During the 2018 budget debate, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan had reported that growth in the tourism sector for 2017 had increased by 5.7 per cent when compared to 2016, in that the period at reference had seen the arrival of a total of 170,322 visitors between the months of January to September alone.

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