DIRECTOR of Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh has said that this country’s participation in the World Travel Market, earlier this month, was one of the most successful over the past ten years. In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, at the Sophia Exhibition Site, Georgetown office, he said the trade show from November 5 to 8, in Excel London, resulted in sixteen new international companies expressing their interest in selling destination Guyana.
Haralsingh said that is a record for any trade show the country has ever participated in and will spell wonders for the tourism distribution and arrivals.
“You can imagine how much more Guyana will be promoted because they will publish us in their catalogue which is distributed worldwide; they’ll put us on their website; we’ll be in their e-mail communication, because most companies are looking for new off beat destinations and Guyana fits that ideal,” he stated.
Haralsingh said some of the companies which expressed interests are Barefoot Travels, Trail Finders, Lateral Life, the Robinson Tours, the Rum Experience Tours and the Beyond Tourism Company and that resulted in guaranteed return on investment for Guyana.
“You can imagine each company sending so many visitors to our destination, each company promoting Guyana, helping to create and reinforce our brand, our image and to reinforce awareness of Guyana as a destination,” he said.
Haralsingh said it means that Guyana has a larger sale force out that is prepared, willing and able to sell and promote destination Guyana.
According to him, the delegation that took part in the world’s second largest travel trade show was led by him and the GTA team, with representation from the Guyana Wilderness Explorers, Adele’s Resort and the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), among others.

Critical event
He pointed out that this is a critical event for Guyana, because “it is here where we meet with the travel trade from around the world, network with the travel trade and stakeholders, as well as receive feedback about how Guyana is perceived as a destination.”
“Feedback is vital for our tourism development, our tourism marketing and promotions as well,” he added.
Haralsingh stated that this interest in Guyana as a new destination can be attributed to many factors, such as its strategic geographic location, rich wildlife, sustainable tourism practices and the warmth and hospitality of its people.
He said that, for the first, Guyana has been featured in the official catalogue of the World Travel Market, which was distributed to the 189 countries that attended the trade show, all tour operators and the media.
Haralsingh said Guyana used the occasion to distribute press kits with key information about the country, as well as story ideas for travel writers.
“We have a number of travel writers who are interested in coming down here to write about Guyana,” he reported, noting that Guyana has made very important and key contacts with the travel trade distribution system and had a number of meetings with key agencies, such as the Commonwealth Secretariat and China Outbound Travel.
Haralsingh said China is expected to be the world’s largest outbound market by 2015, sending over 100 million tourists out of the country per year and Guyana has an approved destination status with China.
He informed that, at this year’s trade show, there were over 50,000 industry participants, 30,000 trade visitors, 3,000 international press and 5,200 exhibiting companies.
Further, the attendance at the travel market grew by 4.5 percent over last year.