THE Tourism Ministry, over the next 12 months, will assist operators to overcome the challenge of accessing much-needed finance, allowing them to fully develop their products and services.

Speaking at a tourism conference on Monday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown, subject Minister Catherine Hughes said her ministry, in conjunction with the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), will match the innovative ideas of local operators with the availability of funds from a wide range of sources.

“In the six months I have been in this position, I have been pleasantly surprised that there is funding available for tourism products and innovative resources that we can bring to the table. The challenge is we haven’t taken advantage of it.

“And it is understandable because, quite often, just the paper work that is required and the product documentation that is required can be just overwhelming to the largest of businesses,” Minister Hughes said.

Businesses, she added, will receive the necessary support to develop their product documents. This, she said, will allow operators to capitalise on the tremendous opportunities the tourism industry has to offer, alluding to Guyana’s pristine forest and breathtaking natural landscape.

Minister Hughes was addressing the well-attended conference, which brought together a wide cross-section of operators within the tourism industry. GTA Director Indranauth Haralsingh; the Ministry of Tourism Director General, Donald Sinclair; Strategic Marketing Lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Jennifer Barrow; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rainforest Expeditions (Peru), Eduardo Nycander; and Sonia Noel Designs CEO, Sonia Noel, were among the experts who shared their wealth of knowledge with the operators.

Barrow, in delivering her presentation, said pricing and packaging are important elements that must be considered when developing tourism products and services. However, she said producers and service providers must first know their target markets, the value of their products, and the best time for business. She emphasised that they must have a positive outlook.

“You have to embrace your product, you have to like your product, you have to love it,” she told them; but she also warned: “It’s not about what you like, it’s about what your target market likes.”

The UWI Strategic Marketing Lecturer also encouraged business proprietors within the tourism industry to have flexible prices. She noted that consideration should be given to the supply and demand of products and/or services.

“When demand in high prices will be higher, when demand is low, you may have to put in a sales promotion and flex that price; but don’t let it be a surprise, plan for it,” she explained.

Importantly, she urged operators to be aware of the products and services offered by their competitors at all levels – locally, regionally and internationally.

“Pricing cannot be done in isolation,” she further warned, adding that a product’s uniqueness must be emphasised at all times.

The tourism conference brought the curtains down on the set of activities held in observance of Tourism Awareness Month 2015 under the theme, “Growing the Business of Tourism through Product Innovation”.
The conference offered a diverse programme of local, regional and international speakers, who focused on pricing and packaging, business-to-business marketing, and product innovation, with the objective of building and maintaining competitive, profitable, sustainable and resilient businesses.