THE recently staged GuyExpo 2010 was a huge success, with 300 exhibitors and some 300,000 visitors over the six days, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manniram Prashad reported yesterday. He told the Guyana Chronicle that feedback from exhibitors and sales indicate that it was one of the biggest such events in the Caribbean.
However, despite the setback with the traffic situation, which will have to be addressed next year, everything else went rather well, Prashad assured.
He said, for the first time there were booths with products from Mexico, India, Brazil and Suriname and the response to GuyExpo 2010 was themed ‘Expanding Investment in a Sustainable Environment’ and, although the support was overwhelming, it was decided that it will not be held over, Prashad said.
According to him, the new features for 2010 were the no-alcohol zone with games, face painting for children, food court with Brazilian and Mexican foods, an entertainment area and the main pavilion for exhibitors.                                        
GuyExpo, inaugurated in 1994, is the single largest such show in the Caribbean, a fact confirmed by countries including Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, Prashad said.
This year, the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce made an investment to develop a wider venue at the Sophia Exhibition Centre to cater for the anticipated attendance and, instead of Government agencies occupying the main pavilion, it was allocated to local manufactures and producers.