– tourist arrivals up by 20% in the First Quarter
PROOF that ‘Guyana – the Amazon Adventure’ is fast becoming the destination of choice for visitors the world over, the Ministry of Tourism has reported a record high of 36,352 arrivals in the first quarter, or a 20 percent increase over last year’s international arrivals. “It is clear that the country’s interest in tourism is very aggressive at this moment. This steady increase is testimony to the continued investment in the country’s Tourism Sector and the aggressive marketing strategies used,” Tourism Industry and Commerce Minister (acting), Irfaan Ali explained.
The Unites States remained the top market with a total of 18,500 visitors for a share of 49% of the total tourist arrivals during the first quarter of this year, while visitors from the Caribbean accounted for 8670 or 35.3% of the total arrivals.
Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Indranauth Haralsingh attributed the increase in arrivals from the US market to the boost in air lift to and from North America.
He explained, “Delta Airlines continues flying to Guyana from North America, and EZjet, a new carrier, has also commenced flights direct from New York. In addition, with the introduction of direct flights by Surinam Airways, we have seen an increase in airlift to Guyana.”
The third and fourth biggest generating markets were Canada and Europe with 5549 and 2131 visitors respectively, added to this, arrivals from the South and Central American markets steadily increased from 542 visitors in 2011, to 563 in 2012.
Market Performance for 2012
The current year-to-date (January to April 2012) summary indicates that visitor arrivals increased by 18.3%, with a total of  54,853 visitors compared to 44,525 for the same period in 2011.
Visitor arrivals from the United States market recorded a 20% growth for the month of April 2012, with a total of 11,116 visitors, compared to 9,260 recorded in April 2011.
The Canadian market increased by 14.6% with visitors from Canada recorded as 2451 compared to 2,139 in April 2011; while the European market decreased in April 2012 by -7.7%.
The European market decreased in April 2012 by -7.7% with the market providing a total of 648 visitors compared to 702 visitors which were recorded in April 2011.
More significantly, the Caribbean region recorded a noteworthy increase in April 2012 by 20%, with a total of 3,748 visitors, compared to 3,123 in April 2011.
These figures can be attributed to the fact that Guyana hosted the recently concluded 13th Annual Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC-13) from April 15- 18th, which attracted more that 300 registered participants from the Caribbean region, in addition to more than 30 local and international journalists.

MAJOR ATTRACTIONS
It is important to note that from January to April this year, Guyana hosted several mega events which contributed to the record arrival figures during this period.

The first month in 2012 saw 10,836 visitors arriving in Guyana, many of whom were attracted to the annual Kashif and Shanghai Football Finals, and the 15th anniversary of Sonia Noel Fashion Show, among other events. There was also a marked increase of 11.8% in arrival over the same period last year.

Promotion and marketing continued in February, with the staging of Mashramani celebrations and the 2nd annual Lake Mainstay Regatta – Jet Ski Fury; 11,722 arrivals were recorded for this month, compared to the 9365 recorded visitors for the comparative period in 2011.

There was a 26.9% increase in arrivals in March of 2012 over the same period last year, which was as a direct result of the staging of several exciting events during that month, particularly for the Phagwah Celebrations.

Events included the annual Holi Ustav, the inaugural GT&T Colour Fest, Clash of the Titans 2 (Chutney show) and the highly anticipated annual Pakaraima Mountain Safari.

In addition, for the first time ever, GT&T partnered with Guyenterprise, to host ‘WrestleRama’, which also contributed to attracting the 13,794 visitors that arrived in Guyana during March.

April began with the first round of the National Race of Champions. This was followed by the ‘Easter Weekend’ celebrations, during which time a series of events were staged across the country.

Other major attractions at the beginning of the month were the Rupununi Rodeo, HJ Easter Fest featuring international performers Glen Washington, Beres Hammond and Mr. Vegas; the Bartica Regatta, Wedding Expo and the 13th Annual Sustainable Tourism Conference.

Bollywood singing sensation, Sonu Nigam also performed at a live concert in April ending that month with a record 18,501 tourist arrivals, over the 15,516 from last year.

It is evident from the figures and the overall trends that visitor arrivals keep climbing, and according to Minister Ali, it is expected to continue along this trajectory with major upcoming events lined up, such as the inaugural Food, Arts and Music (FAM) Festival on Independence Day; this event is expected to attract even more visitors to ‘Destination Guyana’.

“We are going to build our tourism product around this event in the future. The FAM Festival is now going to be regarded as the core tourism event for us, and it comes at a time every year when we will be celebrating our Independence,” he said.

Upcoming events include Bikers Fest, Jamzone, and a 50-mile mountain biking event in August.