THE Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) has announced that four tourism businesses have so far, for the month of February, been granted their conditional approvals for reopening.
Caiman House, Cara Lodge Hotel, Guyana Truly Wild and Pandama Retreat & Winery Resort can now commence welcoming travellers and guests to their properties based on the guidelines outlined in the National COVID-19 measures and GTA’s recommended Hygiene and Sanitation protocols, a release said.
GTA said it is imperative that those businesses which have since received their conditional approvals be reminded to maintain the protocols as outlined by the Guyana Tourism Authority and the National COVID-19 measures. “Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in the revocation of approvals. Domestic and international travellers are urged to use only those GTA-approved tourism businesses to ensure that themselves and their peers’ safety are prioritised while enjoying amazing tour activities in a safe, controlled setting,” the release said.
A list of the tourism businesses (tourism accommodation establishments, interior lodges and resorts, and tour companies) that have received conditional approval can be found on the GTA’s Facebook profile under the albums titled “Safe for Travel” and “Safe for Indoor Dining”.

GTA Director, Carla James, expressed that “the tourism businesses are doing their part to keep travellers, their team and community safe.
“The resilience and camaraderie witnessed over the past few months to combat the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and reopen the sector in a safe way has been remarkable. While it is not quite over, we are confident that as long as we continue along the path that we are on, the recovery of our sector will be strong,” she said.
The two-step process for tourism businesses to reopen as directed by the GTA and the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) remains the same: Submission of Business’s written Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to the GTA for a desk review and on-site inspection of businesses to verify the implementation of the Standard Operations Procedures (SOPs) and approval by the GTA. Reopening of restaurants and bars as per the COVID-19 National Safety Measures dated January 31, 2021, restaurants and bars are allowed to reopen at 40 per cent capacity. Pre-approval to reopen is not required; however, restaurants and bars must comply with the COVID-19 Safety Measures and the guidelines that have been set up for the safe operations of their business.

To hold restaurants and bars accountable and keep the dining public safe, the GTA in collaboration with the Mayor & City Council, the Ministry of Health and the National COVID-19 Task Force through its monitoring system will continue to request SOPs from businesses and conduct unannounced inspections.
Restaurants and bars that fail to adhere to the stipulated measures as outlined by the GTA and the National Gazetted safety measures will be subject to immediate closure for a period of one month. For more information about the two-step conditional approval process for reopening of tourism businesses, persons are asked to contact Micheala Lindore, Tourism Business Support Officer within the GTA at micheala@guyanatourism.com or Carla James, Director of the GTA at carla@guyanatourism.com.