ACTING Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Irfaan Ali, has said that his ministry is in full support of any investment that opens up access and opportunities for an expanded tourist market. Speaking Tuesday, at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, to mark EZjet’s inaugural flight from Guyana to Toronto, Canada, he said the journey was not an easy one, with discussions surrounding the launch of the service starting months ago.
“I want to take time off to congratulate the Canadian High Commissioner for his steady support, his understanding of the local need and his definite input in the success of today.
“He has been a very dynamic force in helping us not only in this aspect of the tourism market but many other initiatives that you will see unfolding within the next few months,” Ali stated.
Continuing, the minister said:“In August, we will have Miss Canada 2012 and a full crew of Canadians coming to Guyana to put their faces to Destination Guyana to market Guyana. They will create more than 39 episodes of reality TV to be broadcast, using the social media network touching more than 800 million potential customers.”
Ali also disclosed that his ministry is engaged in strong discussion on adding to opportunities for more airlines coming directly from Toronto to Guyana “because competition stimulates the market.
“And that can be seen in the United States (U.S.) market where every flight coming into Guyana is almost filled since June. This is testimony to the positive impact competition can have,” he remarked.
“Of course, competition must be fair, competition must be even and competition must not be induced by too much cushion that causes unevenness within the market and this is something that the government is continuously looking at,” Ali added.
He said, since its launch, EZjet has transported approximately 31,000 passengers to and from Guyana and the Canadian market is estimated at 50,000 passengers, even without the introduction of this direct service.
“We are confident, from all the feedback that we have got, that this market is going to grow, tremendously, as a result of the introduction of this new airline,” Ali posited.
He said the average fare to Toronto is US$375 (One Way) and “this allows us to compete, strategically, with the other markets in the Caribbean that attract potential tourists and our own brothers and sisters.
“We are already in a position to compete with cost of food and hotel rates, now we can compete with airline rates and this, of course, opens up great potential for us,” the minister pointed out.
Average growth
He observed that the average growth in the airline industry is projected at between four and five percent annually, over the next 15 years and traffic from Latin America and the Caribbean region is expected to triple by the year 2030.
“This brings me to another challenge I want to put out to Sonny (Chief Executive Officer of EZjet) and that is investment in an aircraft that will do a direct flight – Guyana/Trinidad/Barbados and back – that is the next challenge we would like to see,” Ali said.
Continuing, he told the gathering: “Many of you would know that REDjet injected a lot of forward flow into Guyana and many people would say that REDjet being out of the market would have seen the drastic decline in our numbers in terms of arrivals. I am very happy to report that, as we speak here today, we have a 17 percent increase in arrivals over that of the same period in 2011.
“We are hoping that, with the volume we are seeing in August going all the way into the end of September and then going back into the peak season of the Christmas holidays, this is going to increase even further,” he anticipated.
Ali said government continues to, aggressively, seek after other airlines, including JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, West Jet of Canada, Wings Aviation/Fly Jamaica and British Airways.
“We believe, strongly, that, in three years, Guyana’s Tourism Sector will have the potential of dominating the space within the Caribbean,” he said.
“…we need also to use this opportunity to call upon our local investors to invest in airlines for local flights, especially for the Tourism Sector,” he urged.
Some discussions
Ali informed that there has been some discussions in this regard with Mr. Christopher ‘Kit’ Nascimento but said: “I am making this public call now to the Aircraft Owners Association and local investors to come on board and make the investment.
“If you don’t make the investment, we will have to seek other avenues through which the investment would have to be made; so the challenge is for you to come up to speed with the development and the other investment at the more national level so that we can have the synergies between the different stakeholders,” he explained.
Ali said, this year, many initiatives have been launched in the Tourism Sector, including the Essequibo Development Circuit and, to this end, Nascimento has shared a proposal that could “very well see the establishment of the first marina in the Essequibo River.”
“Our tourism product has a long way to go; it has a dynamic future but it is investments like these, it is collaboration like these that are necessary to ensure that the infrastructure is there to facilitate the expansion of the Tourism Sector,” he emphasised.
Alluding to the issue of the new airport, Ali said an analysis has just been done by a specialist, showing all the potential Guyana has, in terms of becoming not only a tourist destination but a refuelling and transit hub to Africa etc.
“I think the time has come for us to stop talking about these developments in this country and to start aggressively, purposefully engaging to ensure that these investments are completed and we can realise the potential we truly hold,” he encouraged.