Guyanese diaspora targeted for Phagwah Festival of Colours
MINISTER with responsibility for Tourism, Mr. Irfaan Ali, on Wednesday,  unveiled plans for rolling out the ‘Re-discover Home in Guyana’ initiative’, scheduled to kick off with a fantastic seven days, eight nights tourism package. The target will be the Guyanese diaspora in New York  desirous of making the trip for the upcoming Phagwah Festival of Colours in Guyana.
The programme, from March 2 to 9, is being promoted by the Tourism Ministry, in collaboration with the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha and actively supported by Caribbean Airlines, which is the designated, sole international air carrier for the purpose.
A group of five hotels, Cara Lodge, Duke Lodge, Grand Coastal Inn, Princess Hotel and Sleep-in International are also involved in the promotion.
The offer includes:
* an amazingly reduced air fare by Caribbean Airlines, offering return flights from New York for US$580 (exclusive of tax);
* seven nights hotel accommodation;
* daily breakfast and
* entry to the following Holi events, the Chowtaal Samalan on State House Lawns, March 4 and Holi Usav at the Dharmic Kendra on March 8.
Transportation will be provided at a nominal cost of US$5 daily for local transfers to all of the listed events, entry to most of which will be free of charge, except for the Phagwah Mela, according to Dr. Vindhya Persaud, Director of the Dharmic Sabha.
Tours can also be booked and the best deals had for travel while in Guyana to fascinating destinations, among them Roraima Tours, Arrowpoint Nature Resort  for just US$85 per person; Evergreen Adventures: Essequibo River Tours for  US$95 per person and Rainforest Tours trip to Kaieteur Falls for U$$230 per person.

AIM
Addressing reporters in his Brickdam, Georgetown office, Minister Ali said the aim of the promotion is to foster collaboration and ensure that Guyana’s tourism product is enhanced and marketed successfully at the end of the day.
He said another objective is to bring back more of those in the diaspora and the Caribbean who love culture and would love to enjoy a week of Phagwah celebration in Guyana.
With the cooperation of Caribbean Airlines and a number of hotels, the Minister is optimistic of a successful outcome of the venture which speaks to the solidifying of Guyana’s cultural heritage.
Ali said it is the first tourism package established with the kind cooperation of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Saba and contributes towards advancing the sector, the bottom line of which is getting Guyanese to come home and rediscover and enjoy it.
Meanwhile, the Dharmic Sabha would be organising programmes to give people the opportunity to enrich themselves culturally.
In addition, the Minister said the Tourism Ministry and Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) recognise the importance of wider collaboration with the Private Sector in developing more packaged products.
“I think this is an amazing start,” he posited, calling on the media for full cooperation and positive coverage.
With an eye on having Guyana be the destination for at least one Hollywood movie, Minister Ali said, once the media can give the kind of coverage required, events of this kind can see a long and successful future.
Also present at the press conference were several representatives of the Private Sector whose business entities will be collaborating to make the venture a success.
Among them were Mr. Carl Stewart, Manager, Caribbean Airlines (South America); Mr. Muharren Kulecki, General Manager of Princess Hotel; Mr. Germaine Gouveia of Grand Coastal Inn; Mr. Clifton Bacchus of Sleep-in International and Mr. Michael Patterson of Roraima Airways.
They all expressed pleasure at being part of the enterprise and pledged to give their unstinted support, especially as Guyana has a lot of tourism potential.
Persaud said Dharmic Sabha looks forward to more such collaboration in ensuring that Guyana benefits from the linkages.