-toshao urges residents to get involved

MORE efforts and resources will soon be pumped into turning Mainstay/Whyaka, which is known for its scenic beauty and the privately-owned Lake Mainstay Resort, into one of Guyana’s top tourism destinations.

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, the community’s toshao, Yvonne Pearson, said that, alongside agriculture development, tourism was high on her agenda.

“The second on my agenda is tourism. We have the Lake Mainstay Resort which is run by a private company and we benefit a little from revenue such as lease of land,” Pearson said.

She noted that, at the council level, the village will embark on a number of projects to promote community tourism. One of the projects will see the establishment of a guest house in the village.

“My council, we are now embarking on community promotion. We have a small guest house, so I will put in something to construct a new building,” she said before adding that several villagers have already shown interest in becoming key stakeholders and will prepare a variety of unique and exciting packages to offer visitors the best tourist experience.

“At the community level, we are encouraging the local people to put their own package together,” she said, noting that a honey tour could be included.

“There is a young man that is doing organic honey. He can do tours, take people to see how honey is produced…there is another young man trying to set up an eating place. I had a talk with him [and] I said that’s good because when we bring in our visitors, we can tell them where they can have a nice breakfast.”

With the addition of a guest house, she explained that other attractions and activities will need to be established to provide a holistic experience to tourists and visitors. However, for these plans to materialise, the support from the community was critical, she said.

As such, Pearson is urging all in her community, both young and old, to assist in that aspect of the community’s development.

“We have the sight-seeing. There are things we are doing; we can take them to a farmer, we can take them to see how honey is harvested, we can take them to see how the chief wine is produced. This is community tourism. We are encouraging the community to get on board,” she added.