“We need to make Guyana a wedding destination”, said CEO of Roraima Holdings, Captain Gerry Gouveia, as the second Wedding Expo opened last evening at the Roraima Duke Lodge in Duke Street, Kingston. Gouveia stated that the event, which will be a regular feature on the tourism calendar,   will prove that the business community can rise to the challenge.
Alluding to events of a similar nature held in other CARICOM countries, he stated that we need to learn from our Caribbean brothers and sisters, subsequently expressing the hope that the event can move from strength to strength.
Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir said at the opening that the effort to transform Guyana into a wedding destination requires everybody putting their minds and shoulders to work. He said that tourism is a business for “all of us”, stressing the need for effective sanitation measures to keep our country attractive to tourists.  Nadir lauded the Gouveia couple at the event for being a testament to what ordinary people can do, stating that Gerry and wife Debbie were an “ordinary couple doing extraordinary things”. Addressing the exhibitors, he expressed confidence that the entrepreneurship displayed would develop and build Guyana.
Deputy Mayor of Georgetown, Mr. Robert Williams, praised Roraima Holdings for the initiative, voicing the opinion that any opportunity to bring folks together and increase family ties was commendable. He pointed out that the opportunity would showcase Georgetown and Guyana as a whole, as a source to fulfill wedding needs.
A taste of what is to come tonight and tomorrow was given with a display of Hindu African and Christian wedding fashions presented by Ms. Sacha Persaud and local designers Sonia Noel and Olympia Small-Soneram.
The Expo which continues today and tomorrow is free of cost to the public.