WILDERNESS Explorers (WE), Guyana’s only Destination Management Company, has secured funding from the Canadian High Commission, and is partnering with the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) to deliver a series of comprehensive, peer-to-peer COVID-19 training to lodges within the North Rupununi tourism circuit.
According to a release, during February 19 – 25, 2021, eight participants from two communities, namely the Rewa Eco-Lodge and Surama Eco-Lodge, benefited from both practical and theoretical knowledge on hygiene and sanitation best practices facilitated by the GTA and WE representatives.
These sessions, which were guided by the GTA’s recommended Hygiene and Sanitation Protocol as well as the National COVID-19 Safety Guidelines, trained four participants of each lodge, particularly the senior staff, within the kitchen quarters, housekeeping, tour guiding and operations.
Participants were thoroughly guided through each session to ensure that they will be able to deliver safe service when interacting with guests, and by extension promote safe travel in Guyana.

Additionally, when they return to their lodges and communities, they will also be able to take the knowledge that they have gained, and apply it to their day-to-day activities, and also train their peers and community members.
One area that was prioritised, which is a fairly new component in Guyana, is the retrofitting of tours. This simply means that participants were guided through their existing tours and activities, with the aim of including COVID-19 protocols and practices to keep guests and hosts safe. This training is part of the first steps to ensure the safe resumption of tourism operations. The pilot phase is being executed in the North Rupununi, then onward to Central and South Rupununi, followed by other tourism circuits in Guyana as part of a larger training project to create safe-travel corridors and restart tourism.

Previously trained lodges include Caiman House, Karanambu Lodge, Atta Lodge and Mapari Wilderness/Guyana Truly Wild. The pilot phase comes to an end in April 2021, with the final two lodges scheduled to receive training during March 6 – April 2, 2021.
These trainings, in addition to the inspection activities conducted by the GTA, all support the tourism businesses with their preparation for safe reopening through the two-step process which entails 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 SOPs and approval by the GTA.