By Jared Liddell
IN an effort to revitalise Guyana’s ailing tourism sector, the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) has announced that several events, including Guyana Restaurant Week (GRW) and ‘Rediscover Home’ will be launched next month.

President of THAG, Mitra Ramkumar, told the Guyana Chronicle, during an interview on Monday that GRW will be facilitated from November 20 to November 29, 2020 while the dates were being finalised for ‘Rediscover Home.’

Ramkumar believes the tourism sector can be reopened safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is responsible for devastating economies across the world. He noted that once the necessary precautions are taken, the spread of the COVID-19 virus can be minimised.
Given that November is Tourism Awareness month, THAG will use the opportunity to execute GRW with a twist since this will be the first large entertainment event since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Guyana in March.

“We are expecting a huge turnout. I believe people will welcome the experience because it’s going to be special,” Ramkumar said.
He assured that several measures to guard against the spread of COVID-19 will be implemented, in an effort to make consumers comfortable and feel safe. As such, food will be delivered in addition to outdoor dining.

“Sometimes persons may still be skeptical about coming out and dining; we have catered for it, we are partnering with several local delivery organisations to facilitate delivery. And this in itself is positive because it allows the tourism sector to provide an additional set of persons with employment opportunities.”
Usually, GRW is held twice per year but due to the pandemic, it was cancelled for the first half of 2020.

Ramkumar disclosed that major restaurants in Guyana are participating this year, including Cara Lodge, Aagman, OMG, Café Belvana, The Duke, Jaxx International, Guyana Marriott, Park Vue Hotel, Antonio’s Grille, Herdmanston Lodge, Xie Xie, Wind Jammer, and Java Coffee Bar.

Guyana Restaurant Week commenced in November 2014 and was launched as a means of making restaurant meals more affordable and accessible to the Guyanese public.

REDISCOVER HOME
Meanwhile, the ‘Rediscover Home’ event will target locals and facilitate a space where they can explore and enjoy the vast tourism activities the country has to offer.
“We want to encourage them to come out and bring their families, and their friends to experience Guyana’s Tourism and its beauty. There is so much beauty and culture here that a lot of Guyanese have never had the opportunity to explore; we plan to change that this year,” the THAG President said.
The event will see locals having the opportunity to take part in several events, including hiking, Kayaking and nature walks. Ramkumar clarified that this will be facilitated through collaboration with several local tourism companies.

“We want Guyanese to have the opportunity to come out and to experience these tourism activities, so we had to work to ensure that the cost attached is affordable; we want every Guyanese to have access.”

Based on figures provided by the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), it is estimated that tourism injected approximately GY$62.6B directly into Guyana’s economy in 2018 and GY$69.9B in 2019. This reflects an estimated increase of GY$7.2B over 2018.

Tourism was verified to be the second largest export sector in Guyana after gold. Beginning in 2020, it is expected to become the third largest export sector after the oil and gas and gold.