– use coming oil wealth to drive tourism, new THAG president urges gov’t

THE Government of Guyana would do well to craft a National Tourism Strategy to advance not only the tourism sector but economically, socially, environmentally and culturally as well.

This advice comes from newly-elected President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Mitra Ramkumar, who sat down with the Guyana Chronicle to flesh out the benefits of such a plan.

An accountant by profession, Ramkumar bolstered his argument by providing statistics from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), which in 2017 ranked tourism as the world’s third largest export after chemicals and fuels.
According to the report, international tourist arrivals worldwide stood at a total of 1.2 million in 2016, while it is being projected that the number will increase significantly by 2030 to some 1.8 billion.

Ramkumar’s idea for the strategy comes, in part, from his research on oil-rich Qatar, which he says is using its oil wealth to significantly propel its economy by crafting a National Tourism Sector Strategy up to the year 2030.

But unlike Qatar, which had to create its tourism sector from scratch, Ramkumar says, Guyana already has a head-start with its vast opportunities in the area of eco-tourism.
He also said that with the development of the right infrastructure, which a National Tourism Strategy can provide, a variety of other sectors will benefit greatly from the “trickle-down effect”.

“If you craft a strategy and you focus on tourism, what does tourism ask you to do? It asks you to have better drainage, better roads, cleaner environments, respect the for people, and law and order, unity. What tourism asks for is what we should want anyway,” Ramkumar said, adding:

“What tourism does is that it creates an intransit population that will drive businesses in all the sectors.”

Noting that the tourism industry has proven itself to be a “hard-currency earner” but that Guyana is yet to fully capitalise on the numerous benefits to be derived from it, Ramkumar said that Qatar’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup was not by chance but a strategic move to attract more persons to visit the country, thus creating more revenue for its other sectors.
It’s a strategy he sees as “an investment” into checking all the boxes to qualify for such an opportunity, and said this is what Guyana needs to do to begin to reap the rewards of its countless untapped tourism possibilities.

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He, however, cautioned that the strategy should not only involve the government but the opposition and private sector as well, no matter who is in power.

“Regardless of how many times the government changes going to 2030, we must have one plan and we must stick by it, Ramkumar said, adding:

“The plan must have a buy-in from the opposition, government, civil society, private sector, villages and communities, so that everybody has a say and a stake into this plan.”
Ramkumar, who at one point served as Treasurer of the former National Parks Commission, said that he was especially pleased when he learnt that there was a move afoot for talks to begin between the opposition and the government, as this could significantly help push the agenda to craft a national tourism strategy.

This burying of the hatchet between the two factions, he says, couldn’t come at a better time, as it can also lend itself to Guyana, with its rich cultural heritage and six races all living in harmony, becoming a major tourism attraction.

“Tourism not only requires peace, because people don’t want to come to a country that has wars and civil wars,” Ramkumar said, adding:
“It promotes peace as well; it encourages people to embrace each other’s culture and respect each other’s religion. In my view, that is why tourism is so special for Guyana.”
Contending that Guyana is now in a position to fund such a strategy as the one he is proposing, with its ever increasing oil finds, Ramkumar said:
“We need money to fund this plan, and we’re going to earn serious money from this oil.
“I don’t know why people are in this kind of ‘doom-and-gloom’ mode, because, in my view, we should be excited; Guyana will be an economic powerhouse, and what we need to do now, instead of finding all the negatives that we can find, is put our heads together.
“Look at the negatives and look at the positives as well, as to what we can do with this money to really build tourism.”

Ramkumar said that with a national tourism strategy, Guyana has the opportunity to become a model for the world by striking a balance between benefitting from oil and at the same time protecting the environment.

One of the initiatives the plan will call for is, land zoning for protected and special areas to prevent land degradation, deforestation and harm to wild and marine life.
He suggests that the crafting of the plan begins by the end of 2018 ahead of first-oil, should his advice be considered.

As THAG prepares to submit its budget proposal for 2019 to Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, the body fully intends to push for a National Tourism Strategy.
Said Ramkumar,“I’ve spoken to the Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) about it already, so when we submit our budget proposal, it’s something that we are going to ask for; we’re also going to submit it to Minister Gaskin.”

He added that the initiative would also fulfill Minister Jordan’s call for the diversification of the country’s economy, and help stakeholders understand how to better invest in areas which align with the country’s long-term goal.