–Hospitality Institute on the cards

TOURISM is the second largest export sector in Guyana, and has contributed to 22,000 jobs in Guyana in 2018, says Minister of Business Haimraj Rajkumar.
Making the disclosure last Saturday while a guest on the programme ‘INSIGHT’ on VYBZ 100.1 FM, Minister Rajkumar said:

“I believe that tourism is in a trajectory, and we have been improving. We have a target of 500,000 visitors coming to Guyana’s shores by 2025.”

He said that with the expected increase of visitors here by 2025, plans are in the pipeline to expand visitor accommodation in areas on both the coastland and hinterland. And, noting that while Guyana is well known for its rich flora and fauna, there is much more to be done when marketing it to the rest of the world, hence the proposed establishment of a Hospitality Institute.

“The Ministry of Business is also working to establish a Hospitality Institute in the future,” Minister Rajkumar said, adding: “This Institute will serve to extensively train hotel owners and their staff, as well as staff at every port of entry, and even the small man plying their trade.

“We aim to prepare our people to welcome visitors, and at the same time properly display Guyana’s products and services.”

Also in the pipeline, Minister Rajkumar announced, is the provision of tour companies with unique opportunities to maximise the national efforts being taken to appraise and bolster the industry.

And while on the subject of benefits, the minister pointed to those to be derived from the emerging oil-and-gas sector, “thereby making tourism a new frontier for Guyana’s development”.

Based on an analysis of the Visitor Expenditure and Motivation (VEMS) survey conducted by the Bureau of Statistics, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) estimates that travel and tourism injected approximately $62.6B directly into Guyana’s economy last year.
Editor’s Note: Export refers to money going from a foreign consumer to domestic business. (DPI)