GUYANA’S presence at the International Tourism Fair (FIT) in Argentina has been quite rewarding. Already, more than two dozen Latin American tour companies and operators have expressed interest in selling this destination.

Over the last three or so days, Guyana has been presented to thousands of visitors passing through the Exhibition Centre, and several important meetings were also conducted with representatives from major marketing firms, tour companies and travel agencies.

According to head of the Guyana delegation, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh, the impact of attending such an event is immeasurable. He explained, “FIT would help us to make inroads into the large South American market. The fact that we have COPA flying to destination Guyana makes this possible. Today was the business day, and a lot of tour operators, travel agencies and media have expressed great interest in Destination Guyana.”

He also said that the next strategic step is for the destination to host a FAM trip so that we can have agents selling Guyana as well. He said this would enable Guyana to generate coverage in the international media.

Mr. Haralsingh also met with Ms. Carol Johnson from Trip Advisor, who was given details about the product and was briefed on the developments taking place. She opined that the addition of the 5 star Marriott Hotel would add to the destination’s competitiveness and appeal on the international market.

Many companies visiting the booth expressed interest in making the connection with local tour operators in Guyana, and Mr. Haralsingh assured that the relevant information would be filtered.

The first two days of the Tourism Fair targeted business-to-business (B-to-B) contact, while the remainder was opened to the public.