PAUL Stephenson was born Irish, but he just cannot seem to escape the lure of Guyana.

Not that he wants to. His Irish eyes light up even more when he talks about Guyana, and it’s clear that he has been bitten deep by the Guyana bug.

His Guyanese roots are deep. He’s proud of his Guyanese passport and his daughter Jessica, 14, who swims for the Guyana national team.

While he is proud of his Irish heritage, he is equally proud of his Guyanese citizenship status.

Stephenson has long been associated with the hotel business in Guyana, going back to running the Guyana Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown in the 1980s, and then creating Cara Hotels in Guyana with his business partner, Shaun McGrath.

Cara Hotels have expanded to Trinidad and Tobago and Saint Lucia, and Stephenson, as Chief Executive Officer and based in Trinidad, could have been taking it easy, having seen the holdings grow successfully.

But he’s excited about the growing prospects of the tourism sector here, and is back into taking on a big fight as the new President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG).

He admits that the challenges at the helm of THAG are many, but much of his enthusiasm about the task at hand is based on Guyana’s thrust for a low-carbon economy as outlined in the Low- Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).

He was at the International Convention Centre for the formal launching of the draft LCDS on June 8 this year by President Bharrat Jagdeo and said then: “I was very impressed by the initiative as presented by the President. I feel it will have very positive effects on Guyana’s tourism industry, hotels and eco-tourism activities.”

“This will place Guyana on a new level of international acceptance in the green policies, and any discerning eco-tourist will derive great comfort from such strong governmental policies,” he said, stressing that he means every word.

He says maybe it’s his Irish luck, but he also happened to be in the Rupununi on November 9 when Guyana and Norway signed the milestone Memorandum of Understanding which covers US$250M in pledged Norwegian support over the next five years for the LCDS.

“This is huge…it happened in the Rupununi; it happened at Fairview Village…it’s critical and it’s key, because what has effectively happened here is that between the President’s initiative, the Norwegians responding to that initiative so quickly and so positively, it happens to protect the product which is called tourism, eco-tourism, bird-watching,” he said.

Stephenson feels that these two initiatives, “collectively, have now put our protection zone on the tourism product that we are selling.”

“To walk in as President of THAG at this particular juncture, these two initiatives that I have witnessed over the last couple of days help me do my job, and help me serve my membership.”

He has no illusions about his THAG mandate.

“I am looking forward to the challenges…it is an organisation that is critical for the successful development of the tourism sector…I want to refocus the organisation, restructure it, and bring value-added to the sector.”

Stephenson is no stranger to the association, and was involved with it several years ago.

According to him, THAG has had some difficult years as an organisation, and one of his functions will be to “grab this organisation, do some restructuring of maybe the traditional format of THAG – introducing new and vibrant committees onto the board of THAG and then finally deliver a service to its members.”

People have forgotten that the organisation represents the sector – resorts, hotels, tour companies, he argues.

“Generally, if you join an organisation as a member, you expect some benefits from joining this organisation… That got lost in the focus of the organisation over the last couple of years…so I have to address that and introduce new services to the membership, which will help them develop their tourism product and whatever speciality fields that they are in.”

Stephenson intends to run THAG like a business.

“The members would be the shareholders of this business; the executive board would be the management of the business, and I see myself as the CEO,” he said after returning from an intensive trip to the Rupununi.

“The first thing we need to do is to restructure the business correctly and restructure the company and introduce pertinent departments within the company to address certain needs.”

A major innovation is the Community Tourism and Amerindian Affairs Committee, which Amerindian community leader, Sydney Allicock, who is based at Surama in the Rupununi, will be heading.

Stephenson is usually blunt, and he didn’t pull punches as he reflected on what lies ahead to build the tourism sector here.

“For too long, the focus of THAG has been from the Georgetown Seawall to Linden and not into tourism proper.

“If you look at the Rupununi as an area — that has a huge contributory role to the sector. It never had a voice on the executive of THAG. It never had a seat on any committee, and I have had to change that.

“One of the critical committees introduced when I was involved with THAG years ago was a health, safety and standards committee. It was dismantled over a number of years, and we’re reintroducing that back into the structure of the organisation. Those would be the two biggest changes within the structure of THAG,” he confided.

Stephenson is adamant that THAG has to dovetail with what the government is doing in tourism.

“It is critical,” he stressed.

Picking his words carefully, he added: “We have a developing tourism sector that has been developing very nicely over a long number of years. To keep that momentum going and to develop the sector, we need the three organisations that represent the sector currently – the Ministry of Tourism, the Tourism Board and THAG.”

“These three organisations need to work together; we need to partner, and we need to be seen as colleagues in the business; building bridges, understanding relationships, and assisting each other. These are critical steps in moving the sector forward.”

None of those three organisations can stand alone, Stephenson said, adding: “They can’t move the sector forward if they do stand alone. It’s a critical component to get that relationship right and move forward.”

So, is eyeing more tourism development an attractive option for Guyana, given the devastating impact the global economic downturn has had on tourism in the Caribbean and other traditional tourist destinations?

Stephenson says Guyana has a lot going for it in tourism.

“Without question, the economic downturn, which is global, has affected certain tourism markets in a very big way, and the report by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) that has just been released, highlights Guyana as having shown growth of about nine per cent.

“So you have this situation where worldwide, tourist numbers are down and probably will continue to drop over a period of time; you have a regional Caribbean crisis going on because of the downturn, and then yet, at the same time, Guyana is climbing growth in its tourist arrivals. And the CTO is an independent body, so I put a lot of credence in their numbers.”

What also helps is that these recent initiatives (the LCDS and the agreement with Norway) are creating so much public and international awareness of where Guyana is, what it’s doing with its rainforests, and this will help continue that pattern of growth in the sector, he said.

He pointed out that 11 British birders were in the Rupununi when Guyana and Norway were signing the MOU.

“They came to Guyana in the middle of this economic crisis, paid substantial sums,” he noted, adding that there are tourists who continue to travel, in spite of the global crisis.

“The niche market in tourism that we have here, deals with a certain sector of the tourism business that still has money and disposable income that is available.

“So I am very optimistic that we will continue with the growth of the sector here. I can’t speak with the same confidence about the Caribbean tourism market. That’s about crucified…I think Guyana is safe.”

Stephenson says the Ministry of Tourism, the Tourism Board and THAG need to pool resources.

“We, as a nation, need to develop our tourism market by strategic, national advertising in certain areas where the potential tourists are. It could be certain sections of the United States – not all. It could be certain sections of Europe that we have to target our sales, and market specifically to those groups of individuals in those areas, and link to very specific and identifiable products – they want to come to see the rainforests, the land of giants – be it anacondas, anteaters, or they want to come and bird-watch.

“There are a number of specific products that, with good information, working with the ministry and the tourism board, we can design over the next year a strategic marketing plan and a national campaign to be done overseas.

“My intention is to keep this growth going, restructure the organisation, get more credibility into the THAG group,” Stephenson said.

He said that in the Rupununi, currently the most successful destination within Guyana, more Amerindian villages are getting into the tourism product, including Rewa and Surama.

“THAG will help them develop a successful product over a period of time to make sure that the financial soundness of the village is not adversely affected by some large development that they all launch into,” he said.

“…we need the communities on board; they need to be educated; they need to understand how the sectors work, how the business of tourism works, and to make that happen, we need that committee (Amerindian Affairs) as a part of THAG.”

Stephenson said he has had long meetings with Tourism Minister, Manniram Prashad and officials of the Tourism Board, adding that these were “very positive.”

“I am very encouraged by it, and I can see that partnering and understanding starting immediately. Over the last couple of weeks, I have even seen more good signals of building this relationship.”

Training is an integral part of the THAG restructuring he plans under his watch.

“As the sector develops, you will have infrastructural development, but you can’t forget training. Bina Hill Institute in the Rupununi is a prime educational centre that we can now work with and get into the leisure business. We need more birding guides, waiters, chefs…we have to train people for all sectors.”

He envisages, too, that with developments on the LCDS, young people will have to refocus now, because employment opportunities in some traditional sectors may contract, and tourism will offer new vistas.