~GTA director outlines plans for sector
~optimistic Guyana’s industry will bounce back

IN taking up the mantle, the newly-appointed Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority, Carla James, has commenced strategic planning for the recovery of the country’s tourism industry.

During a meeting, via zoom, the director stated that the authority will be looking keenly at the local domestic market, since it is believed that the market will recover first.
“We know that the local domestic market will recover first, so that is the first area we are looking to focus on…how do we move forward with opening that market as safely as we can,” James told reporters.

Additionally, she noted that GTA will be hosting meetings to engage stakeholders to address the concerns and needs of customers.

James further noted that the GTA will be hosting its first ‘Keeping tourism alive in the current crisis’ symposium in the coming week, to engage the regional committees of all ten administrative regions, to preserve and maintain tourism.

In addition, James noted that she is looking forward to taking the country’s tourism industry to an even higher state with the knowledge she had gained from the previous director, Mr. Mullis. As such, one of her goals is to make indigenous communities more inclusive in tourism activities.

“We need to expand a little beyond indigenous communities to involve coastal communities…we have already started working on that; we are looking at experiential travel along the Essequibo coast and river, so that is something that we will continue to build on,” she stated

James further revealed that she is also hoping to make the country’s cuisine more inclusive in the tourism industry, as she believes that such will see the country rising in the agro-tourism sector.

“I think Guyana has excellent food; you go into the market, organic etc. but I do not think that we have maximized the potential to showcase that from a country’s standpoint … there is so much more that we can do, with farm to table experiences. Argo-tourism …it’s an untapped area that we can certainly develop,” James explained.

Nevertheless, James added that, despite the current health crisis, the authority will make the best of its resources to keep engaging all stakeholders to keep tourism alive in Guyana.
A silver lining

Additionally, the President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Mitra Ramkumar, noted that the COVID-19 virus has placed tourism, not only in Guyana, but worldwide, on a halt. Nevertheless, Mr. Ramkumar is optimistic that the industry will bounce back.

Prior to the virus, he noted that Guyana was well on its way to seeing the largest number of tourists it has ever had, and raking in more money than before.
For 2019, Guyana was recognized as the ‘Number one Eco-Tourism destination’ in the world, the ‘Best in Destination Stewardship’, and a ‘Top Ten Sustainable Destination’ in the world.

“Guyana’s tourism industry has been rapidly growing over the years,” Ramkumar said, while adding that “there was a huge demand expected for this year but all of that now comes to a grinding halt.”

In the meantime, he added that time will heal all wounds, and the tourism industry, like many others, will eventually recover.
“We just need to wait this thing out, we need to get past this dark cloud; once we do, then there will be a silver lining.”