WITH a set 18 month completion time for the US$54M Sun & Sands Hotel, Acting Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Irfaan Ali, has noted that international recognition of Guyana’s tourism potential is overshadowed by “unpatriotic negativism.”
Minister Ali made this comment yesterday during the sod turning ceremony for the 290,000 square foot five-star luxury hotel to be constructed at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. Present at the ceremony were President Donald Ramotar, Minister Ali, and Director of the Sun and Sand Group of Companies, Mr. Bhushan Chandra, as well as other notable public officials and members of the diplomatic corps.
Coming on the wings of Guyana’s recognition by renowned broadcast entities: the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Discovery Channel and the History Channel, Minister Ali noted that the country is presented with an opportune time for realising the importance of the tourism sector to the economy.
“You cannot be patriotic or care about national development when you are not concerned about promoting Guyana in a positive light, when the only thing that resides on your mind is to have a negative headline every morning”- Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce (Ag.), Mr. Irfaan Ali
Responding to a published comment of an undisclosed private sector member, the minister asserted, “You cannot be patriotic or care about national development when you are not concerned about promoting Guyana in a positive light, [especially] when the only thing that resides on your mind is to have a negative headline every morning.”
Recognition of this fact, minister Ali mentioned, has seen Jamaica securing a vibrant tourism industry with the help of its media that clearly “understands the importance of safeguarding their country.”
In the case of Guyana, the Minister continued, “We sometimes shatter ourselves with the unpatriotic negativism [especially] from some sections of the media.” Ali underscored that there is an important role which the media play in ensuring that positive reflections are made to boost investor and business confidence.
The Tourism Minister stressed that there should be increased efforts of ensuring the defence of “transformational projects that are critical for the tourism sector,” he added, “[because] you would never hear a word … about this type of journalism that injures the sector more than anything else.”
INVESTOR CONFIDENCE
Also speaking at the event was President Donald Ramotar, who disclosed that investment in Guyana’s tourism and hospitality sectors reflect the “tremendous confidence that the business community… has in our country.”
Mr. Ramotar pointed out that such confidence shows that the Government’s willingness to facilitate and encourage investments and to promote a healthy business environment has borne fruit which has contributed to such a high level of investor confidence in the nation’s economy.
The President noted that the Government has constantly been commended by foreign investors for maintaining a business environment that is conducive to promoting profitability with notable returns to the country’s economy.
IMPROVED HOSPITALITY
On the prospects of an anticipated Hospitality Institute, Minister Ali pointed to Government’s $800M investment in the training and development of the human resource capacity and functioning capability in the sector.
The institute will provide adequate training for world-class personnel to meet the demands from the growing industry.
The minister rejected claims made in the media that meagre investments have been injected in the tourism sector and called on doubting persons “to point to a single country within the Region that is investing more heavily in tourism infrastructure than Guyana at this point in time.” According to him, “returns for investments are already coming in.”
The hospitality institute is set to create almost 100 new jobs in the economy and would see a “trickle-down effect of $1.6B… [Which] would ensure not only that we are capable of training Guyanese to work within our own sector, but it will be of an international standard that will attract students from across the Caribbean,” minister Ali added.
He lauded the entry of the Marriott Hotel into the Guyana hospitality market as a transformative move which has “stimulated many other investments in the tourism and hospitality sector.”
The Tourism Minister conclusively welcomed the entry of the Sun & Sand Hotels and reaffirmed the Guyana Government’s vision, strategy and commitment to develop, promote and ensure sustainability of a sector that will thrust Guyana’s economic development forward.
(By Derwayne Wills)
