By Naomi Parris
FOOD lovers and enthusiasts, who were unable to grab a taste of some of the culinary masterpieces during this year’s recently concluded Guyana Restaurant Week (GRW), will not miss a beat as the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) have announced an extension of the event from December 4th – 13th.

Speaking at the sidelines of an event on Monday, Mitra Ramkumar, President of THAG, told the Guyana Chronicle that given the high turnout that was seen during the last ten days, stakeholders have decided to extend the event.

“In the pandemic, tourism in Guyana stood out, because we have wide open spaces, because all of our lodges have fresh open air; it’s not locked and it’s not air conditioned.
“It was extremely successful even in the pandemic because a lot of persons would have utilised the pickup and delivery option that is able. We would have contracted two delivery service providers which would be One Cart and Hero Cart, so a lot of persons used that and they would have been able to enjoy.”

He stated that during the previous event, which commenced on November 20 and ended November 29, he received a number of reports of restaurants having to turn away customers due to being full to their capacity.

“We were limited in terms of space and capacity. Every night almost, we would have been getting reports of people having to turn away guest because they didn’t have enough space [due] to the restrictions.”
Ramkumar noted that the various tourism bodies and restaurants are currently in the planning stages of the event.

“Right now, we are at the planning stages…because of the tremendous success of Guyana Restaurant Week. We are in conversation with the restaurants to have it extended…it would give those persons who would have been turned away from those restaurants, an opportunity to come out.”
Ramkumar said most of the restaurants have indicated that they will do new menus.