… to encourage the Diaspora
THE Ministry of Tourism  will be collaborating with the private sector and tourism stakeholders to offer ‘Tourism Packages’ to the Diaspora, in an effort to encourage continuing growth in the country’s tourism sector. Minister of Housing and Water with responsibilities of Tourism Minister, Irfaan Ali, made this announcement yesterday, at a press briefing in the boardroom of the Housing Ministry, where he  highlighted plans under way to further advance the strategic vision for Guyana’s tourism sector.
In the next three months, Guyana will be hosting the 13th Annual CTO Sustainable Tourism Conference, which, according to Ali, is an important part of the Tourism Ministry’s annual operating work plan for 2012.
In addition, the Tourism Ministry and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) recognise the importance of wider collaboration with the private sector in developing a more packaged tourism product.
He explained, “Our Diaspora alone gives us a good potential of advancing different products and packages that can make the tourism sector grow. We have a lot of events in Guyana at the cultural level that, once packaged in a sustainable way, would ensure that we create new opportunities for visitors and create opportunities for new markets.”
Minister Ali announced that already plans are under way to launch the first five-day packaged product for Phagwah, in March , to the Diaspora, by the end of this week; this is being done in collaboration with the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, hotels and airlines.
“This is aimed at bringing back more in the Diaspora and the Caribbean who love culture and would love to have a week of celebration of Phagwah, to come to Guyana. Hopefully before the end of the week, we will have the final package available and ready for the market; this will include, hotels , access to events organised to cover one week, and airline tickets at special rates,” he disclosed.
In addition, there are plans to offer packaged deals for other major events including for Easter, Diwali and Christmas, all aimed at advancing and promoting the country’s tourism product.
As for additional plans, Ali said, “We are also looking to target the Trinidad market; this is very important for weekend escapes, where persons can come. This too needs to be done in partnership with the hotels and airlines.”
Meanwhile,  Communications Specialist from the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), Johnson Johnrose, acknowledged that Guyana is embarking on a worthwhile initiative by offering packaged tourism to the Diaspora, since studies have shown that Guyana has one of the largest Diaspora contributions to its tourism and its Gross Domestic Product.
He explained, “We strongly endorse  this; it is very much in line with a programme that the CTO is launching, called ‘Rediscover  Home’ , where we are trying to get  the members of  Diaspora home and re-experiencing the country of their  birth … we have  encouraged member countries to organise programmes like this .. we are very happy that Guyana is doing that.”
The CTO representative noted too that Guyana‘s programmes for the Diaspora will be featured and advertised on the CTO site, at onecaribbeandisapora.com, in an effort to promote the concept.