THE Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, on Friday, rewarded the top 20 winners of their ‘Snap n’ Share 55’ photography competition, at a prize-giving ceremony held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal.

‘Snap n’ Share 55’ is a creative new initiative formulated by the Ministry of Tourism to celebrate Guyana’s 55th independence anniversary, by showcasing all the beauty the country has to offer. The competition garnered over 250 stunning photo entries throughout the month of May, from which 55 photos were shortlisted by officials within the Tourism Ministry.

The top 55 photos were posted to the Ministry’s Facebook page, and members of the pubic were asked to vote for their favourite photos by liking them. The top 20 photos were then selected, and their respective photographers were informed of the results of the competition.

“The response was tremendous. We had close to 200,000 reactions on those photos, which means that in some way people either liked, shared, or reacted in some way or another to those photos, and I think that deserves a round of applause,” Public Relations Officer of the ministry, Cordell McClure said at the ceremony on Friday last.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, expressed satisfaction with the success of the photo competition, and commended staff members for successfully creating, and “pulling off” the activity.

As a result of the response, which she described as ‘overwhelming’, the minister announced that the ‘Snap n’ Share’ tourism photography competition will now be a recurring event, scheduled to happen every year.

“I looked at the photo submissions several times, and remained in awe of not only the beauty of our country, but the photography skills and creativity of our citizens. I know a lot of us didn’t have sophisticated cameras, but they say that when you love something, you take great photos of it, and you could feel and see the love of country coming out of photos,” the Tourism Minister heartily expressed.

She thanked contestants for the passion and enthusiasm invested into the project in such a short time, noting that efforts were well-received and remarkable.
“You, the participants, were able to bring the beauty of Guyana to life with these images. Guyana is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful countries in the world, but for some Guyanese, this remains an abstract concept, because many people are yet to explore and experience much of the 83,000 square miles of this fascinating land,” she said.

Placing 20th to 15th place, in the competition, in ascending order, were: Romeo De Freitas, David Adams, Nikita Fung, Jared Massiah, Celina Young, and Nandanie Nimar, who each received a bottle of wine and a tourism package, courtesy of the Bistro Café and Bar.

Ulex Adrian, who placed 14th in the competition, won a dinner at the Bistro Café and Bar; Yanick Easton, who placed 13th, won dinner at the Cara Lodge; Sean Basdeo, 12th, won dinner, compliments of the Georgetown Marriott Hotel, and Michael Lowe, who managed to score 11th place, won a trip to the Arrow Point Nature Resort, which was sponsored by Roraima Tours, Guyana.

Those who scored the 9th to 6th places, respectively, in the photography competition, and received cash prizes of $10,000 each, are as follows: Andrew Ally and Phillipe Walker, who shared the ninth position; Jalana Hartman, who scored eighth; and Amanda Persaud and Steven Bagot, who shared the sixth position.

There was no tenth or seventh place winner.

Coming in at fifth position was Rohindra Mahase, who won $15,000; Jamall Woolford came in fourth, winning $25,000; Keanu Thomas copped the third position, winning $50,000; Dakari Jordan managed to snag second position, winning $75,000 in cash, and Thamesha Watson scored first position, winning the grand prize of $100,000.

The top three winning photos were mounted at various Tourism organisations countrywide.