…hopes to promote county as travel destination

GUYANA is becoming a hub for eco-tourism and has been attracting tourists from every corner of the world, a development which the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) has taken note of and sought to capitalise on by placing attention on the county, Essequibo.
With growing arrival rates each year, the GTA has taken a step to promote Essequibo as a travel destination for tourists by launching Guyana’s newest Regional Destination Marketing and Management Organisation (RDMMO) called “Discover Essequibo.”
“The organisation will have oversight for areas such as the lower Essequibo which includes Bartica and its surroundings, stretching to Supenaam and the Pomeroon…it will also include indigenous villages,” said an official of the GTA, Kamrul Baksh, in an invited comment on Saturday.

The organisation will function at a regional level, since it was established to do marketing, product development, training and capacity building.

The main objectives of the project are to create a replicable and sustainable governance model, strategy, and action plan that can be repurposed and implemented by the GTA in other areas of Guyana; and launch and market a new RDMMO in the Essequibo region.
Baksh said the organisation is expected to liaise with tourism stakeholders in the Essequibo region and provide training and guidance where necessary.

The Essequibo region is close to Georgetown and is home to amazing wildlife, rich cultural heritage, pristine coastline and friendly locals. This makes it an excellent candidate for tourism development, a feature of the Green State Development Strategy: Vision 2040 for Guyana.

According to the GTA, areas of natural beauty and cultural diversity do not simply make a tourism destination.

“A key factor in successful destination development is a functioning RDMMO and stakeholder collaboration in order to improve the existing tourism offer and collaboratively develop and achieve goals for sustainable tourism development,” said the GTA.
The Essequibo region is open to the development of a RDMMO to organise and promote the tourism offer in this region. The project has been tendered to find the best international experts to assist and guide this process.

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***Photo saved as: Tourism
Caption: GTA official, Kamrul Baksh