Safety management systems to be established for tourism operators
A tour guide leads an expedition in Region Nine (Delano Williams photo)
A tour guide leads an expedition in Region Nine (Delano Williams photo)

-GTA director

TO ensure better safety for travellers and tourists, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) will soon begin the roll out of safety management systems.

This is according to GTA’s director, Kamrul Baksh, who on Wednesday, on the sidelines of an event, said that a holistic plan is in the works to reduce the risk of accidents and fatalities in the industry.

“We understand that there is inherent risk in the industry based on nature activities, [such as] the hiking and boating and so forth and we need to have systems to mitigate unfortunate incidents and to reduce that level of risk,” Baksh told this publication.

A series of training programmes related to the use of the systems will be held.

“What we need is to have comprehensive safety management systems deployed in the operations of businesses. On that note, we have put together several proposals that are awaiting implementation,” he said.

Additionally, the GTA will be partnering with BrinsJen Systems Development Specialists, a local firm, to further advance the management systems.

“We have a private consultant here, BrinsJen. They are specialists at developing safety management systems and they have started to work on several safety management systems for tourism operators in the country,” he said adding:
“We had a very good conversation a couple weeks ago and they are keen to work in partnership with us to ensure that more and more businesses have a better safety culture within their businesses.”

In October of last year, Gladstone Haynes, a New York Police Department (NYPD) veteran officer, disappeared while swimming at Orinduik Falls in the North Pakaraimas.

Later in November, an American tourist Thomas Carsten Jr drowned following a fishing expedition in the Rupununi River near Apoteri in Region Nine.

The two incidents have prompted Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, to urge persons to only use approved tour operators.

The minister, in a statement, had emphasised that persons should ensure that their tours and tour operators are approved by the GTA.

A list of approved operators can be found on the ministry’s website (mintic.gov.gy/approved-tour-operators) and the Guyana Tourism Authority’s Facebook page.
“Tours that are unregulated and not approved by the authority many times do not have the necessary safety systems and protocols in place,” she said.

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