— despite the COVID-19 pandemic

AS unprecedented as the COVID-19 pandemic has been, it has made one thing abundantly clear – the demand for travel and tourism will continue to grow until it can be met, and destination health and sanitation will become the new norm and standard by which travel decisions are made.
As a result of this growing demand, and maintaining Guyana’s position as a top sustainable tourism destination, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) has implemented a continuous coordinated approach in light of the COVID-19 pandemic that has since effectively supported and increased the resiliency of the tourism sector throughout 2020.
As such, here are some of the most significant achievements of the GTA.

LICENCING AND INSPECTIONS
The GTA has recognised the increased level of commitment by many businesses which have since taken advantage of the waiver of licensing and training fees during this period. It is unquestionable that increased support is needed as Guyana’s tourism sector safely reopens to travellers in 2021.
As such, the GTA Board has approved the extension of the waiver policy until March 31, 2021. As a reminder, the policy changes are: Waiver of all GTA Application and Licensing Fees for tourism businesses (Tourism Accommodation Establishments {Hotels, Inns, Apartments and Guesthouses}, Interior Lodges and Resorts, Tour Operators and DMCs) and Tourist Guides until March 31, 2021; waiver of registration fees for GTA-led training programmes until March 31, 2021; and 50 per cent subsidised training fee for First Aid Training led by recognised training institutions until March 31, 2021.

As a result of these reductions in fees in 2020, there was a marked increase in tourism businesses seeking to become officially licenced.
To date, 25 tourism businesses and 12 tourist guides have been officially licenced with the GTA – making it the highest compliance rate for a calendar year. An additional 186 tourism businesses and 98 tourist guides are actively in the licensing process. The inspection efforts provided by the GTA supported the tourism businesses with their preparation for safe reopening through the two-step process which entails submission of the business’ written Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to the GTA for a desk review and on-site inspection of businesses to verify the implementation of the SOPs and conditional approval by the GTA.

These on-site inspections are conducted by the GTA team with a representative from the Ministry of Health. Given the authority’s current role and procedure, a separate inspection by the Ministry of Health is not required for reopening of tourism businesses. Since the implementation of this two-step conditional approval process, 11 tourism establishments have been granted their official letters of conditional approval for reopening. It is noteworthy to mention that the conditional approval process and the subsequent listing of tourism as an essential service would not have been possible without the partnership with the National COVID-19 Taskforce.

HEALTH, HYGIENE AND SANITATION RESOURCES AND TRAINING
Recognising the challenges that communities and businesses are facing in applying the GTA recommended protocols at a business level to reopen and knowing they are all eager to reopen after being shut down for more than eight months, the GTA has ramped up its efforts to support all tourism businesses by providing training and technical support. This is evident in the heightened awareness and training programmes which led to 275 persons being trained in hygiene and sanitation guided by the GTA’s official Hygiene & Sanitation Protocol and a total of 726 persons trained in total for the year 2020 in delivering quality service, taxi driver, first aid, social media marketing and city tour guide training. These sessions have been well received by our sector and have been implemented in their daily operations, some of which have enabled businesses to be granted their official conditional approval letters for reopening by the GTA.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
In the months of July and August, the GTA was able to provide COVID-19 Support Packages to indigenous communities tied to the tourism value chain. The support packages were delivered with a training session done by the GTA, Ministry of Health representatives and Ecolab. This was delivered in two phases. The communities which benefitted from this package in the first phase were part of the Rupununi Tourism Circuit and included market ready, visitor ready and start-up communities.
Phase Two saw support packages and training being provided to communities within the other tourism circuits. The GTA has also been working assiduously with various indigenous communities to explore their potential to develop and diversify experiential tourism experiences. Of these communities, the villages of Moraikobai and Wakapau are now both visitor-ready. The villages’ individual tourism committees have been working with guidance from the GTA to ensure that their one-day and overnight tour packages are ready to start welcoming travellers as soon as it is safe to do so.

More importantly, they have also undergone rigorous training in hygiene and sanitation protocols, guided by the GTA’s official Hygiene and Sanitation Protocol to ensure they are ultimately safe for all travellers. In addition, the GTA, in collaboration with the Singing Chef Productions, also launched a Seven Curry Tour based in the capital city, Georgetown. This unique experience takes the traditional art of seven-curry making and moulding it into a new culinary experience from picking a purine leaf to cooking your curry which will surely captivate travellers. Other culinary experiences are under development and will be in the tourism marketplace in 2021.

COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC AWARENESS
The GTA has been managing the Guyana Travel Advisory on www.guyanatourism.com, the Guyana Page on the LATA COVID-19 Restart and Recovery Hub and the GTA Facebook page (@GuyanaTourismAuthority) as the three main sources of updates. To further expand its reach, they have also released more email blasts to the sector as newsworthy updates become available. A GTA WhatsApp group to share all relevant updates on COVID-19 to expand its communication reach to the sector was also created and is monitored every day.
Additionally, the Travel Industry and Development Division (TIDD) Team partnered with Ovid Williams, who translated simple COVID-19 Advisories into the Makushi and Wapishana languages. These translated advisories have been broadcasted on Radio Aishalton 95.1 FM, Radio Lethem 95.1 FM and Radio Paiwomak 97.1 FM. Further, realtime updates on COVID-19 in the respective communities in Region 9 were done through Radio Paiwomak. Live chat sessions were executed with a GTA representative who sought to reinforce the COVID-19 advisories and new, relevant information that has been released since those broadcasts.

CONTINUOUS INTERNATIONAL FEATURES
Even in the midst of this period of constant change, Guyana still gained significant international recognition that it deserves and remains top in mind of travellers and the wider world. Together with our Market Representatives, Guyana was able to secure US$16m in PR media value! Conde Nast Traveler published an article titled 50 States, 50 Cuisines: The Food Worth Traveling For in Every State which they dubbed the Ultimate food-inspired road trip. Guyanese cuisine is listed as the type of food worth travelling to the state of New York for. Sybil’s Bakery, Hibiscus Restaurant and Bar and German’s Restaurant were all top features and they are all authentically Guyanese.
On the other side of the spectrum, Guyana was also featured in Outside Online as the Land that Time Forgot under 27 Epic Trips to Start Planning Now. During this period of time, tour operators and travellers were also actively seeking inspirational content and stories which the GTA continued to deliver through the establishment of the Online Travel Training (OTT) platform, monthly webinars and newsletters, and Discover Guyana social media channels.

Through Marketing Representation Firms, an Online Travel Training course was developed for international tour operators and travel agents to learn more about the destination as they plan for the future of their travel company to get more acquainted with Guyana. From the United Kingdom alone, 138 operators and agents began this programme since its launch in September.
The Discover Guyana Facebook and Instagram pages have also seen tremendous growth this year with a 45 per cent and 72 per cent growth respectively, and maintaining a steady engagement rate with the travellers. Naturally, Guyana’s tourism product is uniquely positioned to be one of the safest destinations given travellers’ concerns. The GTA, however, will continue to monitor and stay up to date with the global solutions and advisories on the COVID-19 pandemic and adjust all internal plans that may be affected accordingly.
The sector’s commitment to the development of sustainable tourism is a story that touches many and one they want to experience. Their perseverance throughout this period should serve as a reminder that as long as we continue working together, we will rebuild and reopen stronger and safer than ever before. So, as we step into 2021, we would like to once again thank our tourism partners for quite an extraordinary year and into what promises to be a better one than the last. Do enjoy this holiday weekend with your close families and the Guyanese tradition of a plate of cook-up rice as you ring in the New Year.