GUYANA’s tourism is expected to be given a massive lift with the staging of the year-long 50th Anniversary Independence celebrations planned for 2016.Director General (DG) of the Ministry of Tourism, Donald Sinclair, has said that policies will be in place to govern the industry, and high levels of tourist immigration will be maintained with the internationalising of major local sports and culture events.

In a recent interview with Pepperpot, Sinclair indicated that tourism is a department which needs urgent and greater attention; therefore, government has been inspired to allocate a dedicated ministry to, for the first time in Guyana, address tourism concerns.

That ministry has created the new DG office to offer high-level support to Tourism Minister Cathy Hughes in taking Guyana higher up the list of international tourist attractions, and engaging various institutions and agencies in a collective effort to build the industry. Sports, fashion and culture generally will be used as avenues to attract travel and investment, generating high revenues.

Mr Sinclair says his immediate major responsibilities are the crafting of the National Tourism Policy, supporting Minister Hughes in programme activities, and coordinating inter-ministerial activities to decorate the industry.

Minister Hughes was quoted in June this year as saying that tourism can become a substantial earner of foreign exchange, and a source of employment possibly through the implementation of strong policies formulated to identify niche markets and areas of strategic advantage, such as the exotic local bio-diversity — flora, fauna, pristine rain forest, vast rivers with exciting potential for water sports, and waterfalls.

“Guyana’s tourism potential is just waiting on us to make it happen,” she was quoted as saying.

An Internet website disclosed that the minister said that with rebranding of Guyana as “South America Undiscovered”, there is hope that funding will be available to execute this massive marketing plan.

Meanwhile, Sinclair said recommendations from over 25 years ago will also be included in the policy, which he has already begun developing. Recommendations will also be drawn from a Guyana tourism product development charrette which local and international experts collaborated in drafting since March, 2003, to help envision a sustainable tourism industry in Guyana. The charrette developed strategic and physical plans for three important sites in the country — the Rupununi Savannah, the Kaieteur National Park, and historic Georgetown, the document stated.

But although the Director General underlined the importance of flora and fauna in selling our country, he pointed out that tourists are many times interested in beaches and sports.

“Tourism in Guyana is going to be driven by a number of different engines. We often speak of ourselves, and rightly so, as a nature adventure destination. Yes, Guyana has a lot of nature. Guyana is part of the Amazon; we have Amazon attractions. There are nature-based attractions. There are eco-tourism attractions in Guyana. Tourism in Guyana will grow on that base.”

With God already designing a perfectly beautiful natural aspect, Guyanese are now encouraged to be educated and innovative, he said.

“It is the people of Guyana who have to develop tourism. And in order to develop the product, they have to understand what they are marketing and how to market,” Sinclair said.

Elaborating, he said, “Product innovation is an important area for the Ministry of Tourism. Apart from that, we must innovate. We must see what we can do with foods. That will put money in the pockets of the producers of the product. What we do with food we can do with our rums, and the list goes on.

“Sporting organisations can so internationalise their activities that their sport itself would grow through international competition, and the tourism sector will grow from visitors coming to Guyana for the practice of sport, to be spectators of the sporting event; as coaches; as referees; as part of the outfit relating to sport,” he further highlighted.

Sinclair referred to models adopted by neighbouring countries with booming tourism industries. He has worked in the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) in Brazil, and has observed that tourism in that country is built mainly upon beaches and festivals.

Brazil heaves billions of dollars through its tourism economy, he said. Many tourists spend their time on the beaches, and multitudes travel there to be part of major sports extravaganzas such as World Cup football, which was staged there last year; and Olympics, which will be staged there next year. Brazil carnival has also become a major world attraction, he said.

“Brazil gets millions of visitors, but the part of Brazil that has our kind of attraction has few visitors, because it’s not a mass tourism site. The Brazilian Amazon gets about two percent of the tourists visiting Brazil, (but) tourists visit Rio and Sao Paulo mostly for beaches and festivals,” he declared.

Barbados, he added, has the ‘Run Barbados Run’ major athletics event; Antigua hosts an international ‘Sailing Week’, attracting yachts the world over; Suriname is fast developing its ‘Wonder of Mars’ international sports and fitness showcase, attracting participants and fans worldwide.

Guyana, before, hosted Cricket World Cup, and has potential to accommodate other massive shows; and the Ministry has planned on patterning the annual “Flex Night”, native to Guyana, as a major showcase, attracting participants and fitness lovers from several other countries this December.

While he acknowledged that Guyana has beautiful seashores, he said, “Our beaches are more to the interior locations.” And although ‘Rockstone beach’ is interesting and could easily be developed, the people who go there do not go mainly for fish, wildlife and birds.

If Guyana does not present attractive festivals and beautiful beaches in demand on the travel market, we still can attract tourists, but in smaller groups, he disclosed. The Tourism Ministry will, however, not be satisfied until all hotels and resorts record satisfactory occupation, he disclosed.

“Because of the kinds of attractions we have, we, for the foreseeable future, should be attracting increasing numbers of small groups of visitors. When our hotels and resorts are recording an eighty-five percent occupancy, we will be satisfied,” he declared.

The Tourism Ministry is currently drafting development plans and correlating with other ministries to push products other than nature, attracting vacationers from all over the world. It has already seen increases in visitor inflows.

“We have been recording an increase in arrivals over the past five years,” he said. And while “Guyana is a natural paradise”, the ministry is coordinating with South American neighbours — Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana — to attract more tourists here through the Guianas trail.

While Brazil has millions of tourists each year, French Guiana and Suriname have daily flights with an influx of the vacationers from France and Holland, who can simply hop over borders.

Individuals and agencies overseas have also expressed interest in promoting Guyana abroad, and though the Tourism Ministry is not financially ready to pay for such services, “we are determining the most cost-effective way of having Destination Guyana promoted abroad,” he disclosed.

Donald Sinclair assumed duties as Director General in the Ministry of Tourism on 1st October 2015, after returning home from Suriname, where he was employed as Director of the Suriname College of Hospitality and Tourism.

He held senior Tourism-related positions in local and international organisations before, serving in Guyana as Special Assistant to former Minister of Tourism, Michael Shree Chan; Executive Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority under former Minister Manzoor Nadir; and Coordinator for Tourism and Transport at the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization in Brasilia, Brazil.

He has also lectured in tourism at universities in Guyana, the United States and Canada; executed several tourism researches, and produced well-researched articles on Tourism that have been published in international publications.

By Shauna Jemmott