For Tourism Awareness Month…
THE Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) hosted an ‘Events Management Workshop’ at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, on Thursday.
It was part of the activities for Tourism Awareness Month and attracted participants from Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company (GT&T), Duke Lodge, Air Services Limited and Star Party Rentals.
In her address to those participating, Deputy Director of the GTA, Ms. Tameca Sukhdeo-Singh said the theme for the month is ‘Community Based Tourism: Preserving the Unique Character and Culture of Communities.’
She said two main aspects of community based tourism is capacity building and human resource development and those will be the focus this year, with special attention being paid to local host communities.
“One of the main assets is our people and developing this aspect will help us to ensure that our tourism product is offered in a hospitable manner,” Sukhdeo-Singh stated.
She pointed out that the Tourism Industry is multi-faceted and, because of that, one of the areas to be improved and developed is events management.
“We need to ensure that events are successfully developed in a sustainable manner to make certain quality is promoted,” Sukhdeo-Singh emphasised.
She said, if that is accomplished, events management, as a Guyanese tourism product will develop into a niche market which will further generate arrivals, one of the most important things in the industry.
Sukhdeo-Singh noted that, for this year, the number of tourist arrivals recorded has already surpassed those of the same period last year and, with the focus now on developing quality events, the numbers will amplify.
“We are hoping this will be beneficial to all stakeholders in the industry,” she said.
The facilitator, GTA Events Officer, Mr. Marcus Thompson said the objective of the seminar was to provide practical and detailed guidance on organising successful events.
He applauded the efforts of those entities represented and reiterated that the exercise is aimed at enhancing existing skills towards the overall development and continued success of future events.
Thompson said a code of ethics, compiled by the participants with information imparted, will be devised for executing events and the Ministry would be paying close attention to requirements for the successful execution.
“We feel that it is time we endorse your work and help you to develop it better,” he said to those gathered.
Among the several areas addressed were a code of practice for and proper coordination of events, the importance of media involvement and determining target audiences to make sure the best outcomes are achieved.