THE Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) has sought to emphasise the importance of collaboration among stakeholders, as part of an effort to create shared ownership and buy-in for roles that all stakeholders need to play.
To formalise the approach, the GTA successfully completed two round-table stakeholder engagements in Georgetown on June 6, 2019 and in Lethem on June 12, 2019.
According to a press statement from the GTA, a total of 45 tourism stakeholders representing tour operators, interior lodges and resorts, hotels, communities and non-governmental organisations such as The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Conservation International (CI), Visit Rupununi, and North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), attended those sessions.
Director of the GTA, Brian Mullis and Deputy Director of GTA, Carla James, spearheaded the engagements and facilitated the sessions held under the theme, “Tourism Development Challenges & Solutions: We all have a Role to Play.”
Discussions were focused on the tourism strategy, priorities, and outcomes to date for the 2019-2020 period. Emphasis was placed on how critical areas such as reinstating regularly scheduled flights into the hinterland, prioritising policy and critical infrastructure improvements, and raising awareness of the importance and value of tourism nationally, are all reliant on the roles each individual stakeholder plays in tourism.
“Further, by increasing the collective reach of the tourism sector through cooperative marketing and promotions, and meeting the growing market demand by meeting international safety, quality and sustainability standards, the tourism sector will undoubtedly reap the benefits and raise its profile,” said the GTA.
“These stakeholder engagements are important for the GTA and members of the tourism sector to share our strategies and priorities and discuss the ways in which both can be improved.
“Only through this level of multi-stakeholder collaboration can tourism realise its potential as a force for good in Guyana,” said Mullis.
“We feel it is important to have general stakeholder engagements of this nature to identify solutions to the shared challenges we face within the tourism sector and to determine tourism policy and infrastructure priorities,” said James.
As part of its annual budget planning cycle, the GTA intends to host yearly stakeholder engagements with a solution-oriented approach, to build a stronger tourism sector.
