GUYANA, for the first time, participated in the recent annual Vakantiebeurs Trade Fair in Utrecht, The Netherlands, as it seeks to tap into new markets for this destination. The major trade and consumer event, staged from January 12 to 17,  targets three main groups, consumers, trade visitors and professionals from the travel industry, press and other media.
Director of Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh, who was the Guyana delegate, said it is the largest trade fair in Holland and considered the world’s biggest consumer travel and trade show.
He said this year marked the 40th and it was themed ‘Meet the Locals’.
Haralsingh said it was a historic inaugural participation for this country since it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Suriname Tourism Foundation, to share booth space and participate, resulting in Guyana not having to incur much cost.
He said, in exchange, Guyana will be sharing space and cooperating with Suriname at the World Travel Market in London later this year.
Haralsingh reported that the Guyana stall was situated within the ‘Caribbean Village’ and the bilateral agreement is along the lines of the kind this country is looking to establish between tourism friendly countries or countries within the Amazon and the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO).
Declaring that Guyana has started on a very good footing with Suriname, he said it is also looking to extend this type of collaboration with Brazil and China.
Haralsingh reminded that Brazil is a partner in ACTO and, though good connectivity with the Takutu River Bridge, Guyana wants to work with Brazil to promote multi-destination tourism and other areas of cooperation.
He disclosed that Guyana was granted the Approved Destination Status (ADS) in September last year and is preparing to attend and participate in the Shanghai Expo, in China, from May to November.
Haralsingh said this huge world exposition is expected to see the presence of people involved in tourism, forestry and agriculture and some key players in the Private Sector.
Attendance
He said the Vakantiebeurs attracts 1,650 different tour operators and companies from 160 countries and saw attendance of about 140,000 visitors.
Haralsingh noted that Holland is also ranked the world’s 12th largest market in terms of international travel expenditure as Dutch travellers take a lot of holidays annually, with a holiday in Holland not considered a luxury but routine and part of life.
Observing that Suriname receives 50 per cent of its visitors from Holland, he said, with the cooperation between it and Guyana, this country is hoping to tap into that lucrative Dutch market.
Haralsingh said Guyana shares and enjoys a very rich Dutch colonial history and there are at least three flights between the two countries weekly but, apart from the improved air accessibility from both Timehri and Ogle airports, there is the ferry crossing and easier access now with the Berbice River Bridge.
He said there are daily flights directly from Amsterdam to Suriname and that would help Guyana.
Haralsingh maintained that, if Guyana continues to work Suriname tour operators and markets the destination well in Holland, it would be able to attract a good percentage of the Dutch travellers here.
He said, out of a population of about 16.7 million, the outbound travel for last year was six million and the travellers are interested in tourism packages and more active and adventurous holidays, with activities like camping and biking.
Haralsingh said the tourists are interested in nature and green destinations, as well as wildlife and indigenous tourism, which augur well for Guyana.
He said, of recent, trips to new destinations and developing countries are increasing and that, too, is significant for Guyana.
“In addition to that, they are looking for tranquility, scenery, safety, romantic getaway and their travel intensity is very high,” Haralsingh said, underlining that  the other things that resonate well with the market is that they are very conscious about the environment and climate change issues.
The GTA Director said some of the objectives in participating were to create destination awareness; evaluate and assess the Dutch target market; research the demand for Guyana’s tourism product and brand; meet and network with travel trade and consumers; evaluate interest and awareness of Guyana; generate leads and develop contacts; develop competitive insights and identify trends; distribute tourism information and joint promotion of the three Guianas – Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.
Initiative
He said it was also part of the Common Amazonia Tourism Product (CATP) initiative within ACTO.
“This is something we are trying to do to promote multi-destination tourism. So it was a goal and objective to promote this and we did that very successfully because it was for the first time that the three Guianas were together in a foreign country at a booth together,” Haralsingh reported.
He said a representative of Wilderness Explorers was also in Holland on the first day of the trade fair but Guyana’s presentation, basically, comprised of audio visual showcasing the country’s tourism attractions through the BBC three-part series – Lost Land of the Jaguar and Wild Guyana- among others.
Haralsingh said Guyanese tourism literature was distributed along with brochures, posters, souvenirs, packages and other informative materials.
He said 22 tour operators from Suriname were participating and seven of them were selling Guyana in conjunction with local tour operators.
He observed that there is a good level of cooperation and partnership between Guyanese and Surinamese tour operators Destination Guyana was promoted in the official Vakantiebeurs Magazine.
Haralsingh said, while there, he met with tourism officials of Suriname and French Guiana and Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) European representatives, to discuss and explore other areas of cooperation.
He held meetings with Suriname Airways and several top Dutch tour companies that are selling travel to South America, among them Djoser, Orange Travel, Swadee, Does, Cadushi and Thika Travel.
Haralsingh said he took the opportunity to meet with several Surinamese tour operators and hoteliers, as there are many other tour operators in Suriname who would like to establish linkages with Guyanese companies, because they are also trying to broaden their product base.
Destinations
“They are looking for new destinations as well and, since it is neighbouring and there is tremendous accessibility to Suriname, they will be able to come over to Guyana,” he posited.
Haralsingh said they discussed a joint familiarisation (FAM) trip for Surinamese tour operators to come to Guyana, to be followed by an exchange visit of Guyanese tour operators to Suriname.
He said that has never really been done and hotels and airlines, as well as Dutch based tour operators, are keen on the kind of FAM tours.
Haralsingh underscored the importance of such initiatives which have tremendous gains from the opportunity given them to sample and see the Guyanese tourism product and promote awareness and marketing of the destination.
He said the next step is to follow up and to make the linkages between Suriname and Guyanese tour operators, resorts, hotels and travel agents.
He outlined some of the inquires from the Dutch travelers included about airlift and accessibility, tour operators and tour offers; security and safety; family friendly vacations; language; the country and packages.
“We see Holland as an emerging market and a market that has a lot of potential as we try to make Guyana the destination of choice,” Haralsingh asserted.
He deemed that initial participation as very
successful for Guyana.
“We have achieved most of the objectives set out and we have also gathered from Holland and Suriname and we are building a database of contacts,” Haralsingh said.
“It was the right quality and quantity of audience for us and they are interested in the Guyana tourism product.”