…at STC-13
ACTING TOURISM, Industry and Commerce Minister Irfaan Ali reiterated that the Government of Guyana has recognized the critical role tourism would play in the future advancement of the country’s economy. He gave this assurance in his welcome remarks at the opening ceremony of the 13th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development (STC-13), last Sunday evening at the Guyana International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown.
For the second time, Guyana is hosting the prestigious conference, this time under the theme ‘Keeping the Right Balance: Sustaining Our Resources’. This conference ends on April 18.
In extending a warm welcome to visitors to the destination, Irfaan Ali, de facto Minister of Housing and Water, said: “Sustainable tourism, sustainable development, environmental management, and creating the right balance between economic development and nature (have) become one of the most crucial and important global issues; and from the high level of presence from the media, you can see that the Caribbean is no exception.
“It is my greatest pleasure to welcome you, on behalf of the Government and people of Guyana, to Guyana, regarded as the heart of eco tourism; a country on a positive trajectory towards sustainable development,” he insisted.
“Guyana’s future is defined in a Low Carbon Development Strategy as one that seeks to balance economic development and aspirations with global environmental prudence. The heart of this strategy speaks about sustainability, thus creating that right balance,” he said; and as such, during the conference, many important themes, all critical to ensuring sustainable eco tourism and development, will be discussed.
“In the Caribbean, tourism is too big to fail. And singularly, we are too small to compete, thus our hope and recommendation would be to utilize our time and energy to move towards an integrative marketing plan for the entire region, creating the perfect blend of our advantage, thus resulting in a strong sustainable product, one that can withstand shocks and open up new opportunities,” he said.
“Yes, I agree with the argument that some of our tourism sectors are more developed than others, and this has the potential to create unevenness in resource allocation; but the very essence of integration is to recognize this fact, and yet persevere to a commitment of long-term benefits,” he underscored.
He said the strategic location of Guyana opens up wide opportunities for the rest of the Caribbean to benefit from the large market in South America, and the European market that normally stops at Suriname; and Guyana presently has links to both Suriname and Brazil.
“We hope that the more than 140 delegates and observers would take this opportunity to assess Guyana as a destination that can create opportunities for the rest of the region,” Minister Ali expressed.
The Minister said Guyana is convinced that one of the major issues in the Caribbean and around the world would be food production and food sustainability.
“The Government of Guyana has been working aggressively to expand our capacity to produce food, not only for Guyana, but for the rest of the Caribbean. Therefore, we are utilizing this opportunity to showcase our vast advantage in the agro-processing industry, and we hope that the rest of the Caribbean can join us in ‘buy regional, eat regional, live regional’,” he urged.
“The Government of Guyana has made it very clear, in the budget that was presented to Parliament, that tourism would play a critical role in the future advancement of the economy of Guyana; and that was not only a statement, it was also supported by an increase in investments in the sector,” he assured.
As such, the Acting Tourism Minister said, Government is also working on creating greater public/private partnership, so as to build and expand Guyana’s tourism product.
Another aspect of the economy being invested in, Ali said, is arts and craft and fashion. He added, “We are hoping that you will utilize some of your time to also look at these products and to see where we can create economic linkages through the tourism sector, thus, not only creating the right balance for tourism and sustainability for the tourism sector, but sustainability and balance for the economy of all of the Caribbean,” he said.
He proudly disclosed during the conference that one of the leading environmental thinkers and global figures in environment and sustainable development, former President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, would be sharing his insights and thoughts on the global issue, relating it to the challenge the rest of the Caribbean would be facing as a result of those issues.