By Frederick Halley
PLANS are afoot to establish a tourism body in Toronto, consisting mainly of Guyanese nationals residing in the North American city, an idea fully endorsed by Donald Sinclair, Director-General, Department of Tourism in the Ministry of Business, Guyana.
This was one of the main decisions emanating from the Diaspora Business and Tourism Forum, held at the JC Banquet Hall, Scarborough, Toronto, Canada, on Friday last, with Sinclair urging participants to accelerate its implementation.

Sinclair further said that he is eagerly looking forward to the formation of the body, which he suggested could comprise about 300-400 committed individuals. Those chosen should also be tasked with initiating further discussions on fan trips to Guyana, another area which those present felt should be pursued.
But while Sinclair was in full agreement with the call for fan trips, which will consist mostly of media personnel, the director- general also suggested that road shows should be included. Sinclair however warned that the private sector will give support to fan trips only if they know that the persons coming will bring business for them.

According to Sinclair, “It is a sad fact since some of the local industries are not so enthused about diaspora visitors as they feel these people only visit their families and don’t make any serious contributions to the tourism industry.” He however declared that’s not his view, as he was of the opinion that people from the diaspora go to Guyana and spend more money than the other visitors. He referred to the belief as just a myth.
Sinclair made reference to the annual Linden Town Week, which showcases the town and despite acknowledging that the planning needs polishing, pointed out that it involves overseas Lindeners, while the Berbicians are also very passionate about happenings in the Ancient County.

As for Essequibo, Sinclair reminded the forum that during last year’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, three planeloads of Essequibians had visited from Atlanta.
Despite these visits, Sinclair disclosed that “we need to tell the diaspora that there is a Guyana that you do not know, since you may have left over 50 years ago. There is a Guyana we need to introduce to you and in this regard, we need to create a diaspora watering hole — especially in the hinterland.”
The creation of a diaspora watering hole should cater for Guyanese music, pictures of Guyana and also include Guyanese foods, Sinclair suggested.

Sinclair also disclosed that while arrivals in Guyana for the first two months of 2017 have doubled from previous years, 2016 had been a bumper year, largely because of the jubilee season and that last December was the best ever in terms of numbers for that particular month. He said the aim is to double the overall arrivals by 2025, which should be in the vicinity of half a million. “We are trying to spread the planning of tours from the bottom up and we are also in consultation with the authorities in the various regions, with a view of identifying the various tourist hotspots.”

Sinclair pointed out that his department wants to raise the profile of diaspora tourism, “since we recognise the importance of the diaspora, not only in tourism, but in other areas.”
On sports tourism, Sinclair lauded the recent staging of the sports tourism seminar, which saw Joseph “Reds” Perreira as its main contributor. He was however critical of several sports organisations for their tardiness in planning events where several countries are involved. “We have to understand that if several countries are coming to Guyana for a sporting event, we can’t plan it in two weeks. Sports organisations need to understand this calls for forward planning well in advance.”

Questioned as to why there was a disbandment of the Ministry of Tourism, which was under Minister Cathy Hughes, Sinclair assured the forum that despite that, the money allocated for tourism, which now falls under the Ministry of Business, has since been increased. He said President David Granger wants special attention to be paid to Information Technology (IT), hence the establishment of the Ministry of Telecommunications which Hughes now commands.
In a message, delivered at the forum on behalf of Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin, the minister said the Department of Tourism is committed to drafting a diaspora tourism policy to better inform and support the management of diaspora tourism.

The discussion panel was chaired by Lindsay Davidson, Public Relations Adviser to the Ontario government with the other members being Professor Mohamed Khan, Syed Rayman and Cecil Bryan, while Jennifer Singh served as rapporteur.
The forum, organised by the Department of Tourism in the Ministry of Business of Guyana, in collaboration with the Consulate- General of Guyana, Toronto, targeted mainly Guyanese-Canadians who are active in tourism, travel and business; education; the media; sports; culture and entertainment; social work and diaspora- promotion activities.
Among those in attendance were acting Consul- General Candida Daniels, who introduced Director- General Sinclair and former Guyana Government minister Edith Bynoe.