GUYANA’S natural assets hold an allure for unique travel and tourism experiences and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has signaled its support in the expansion of the country’s hospitality sector.

During a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, CDB’s Director of Projects Therese Turner-Jones said that projects undertaken by the Guyana Government to further unlock the country’s niche tourism product have been notable.

“Guyana is a massively wealthy country in terms of the resources. Its natural assets, the falls, Kaieteur, the rivers, the forest, animals in the forest have a lot of allure for some types of visitors… If you look at the growth in the tourism sector, eco-tourism, more nature-based tourism has become a whole niche and I think Guyana is well positioned for that,” Turner-Jones said.

Recently, the government turned the sod for Guyana’s first ever world-class Hospitality and Tourism Training Institute (HTTI) at Port Mourant, in Region Six.
This US$7 million investment is being funded by the CDB.

“With the expansion of the hotels [and] with all the new business coming to Guyana, it’s important that people be trained in hotel management and all the different aspects of tourism,” Turner-Jones added, while noting that the bank will remain strong partners in supporting the country’s development endeavours.

Meanwhile, Guyana’s Finance Senior Minister who also holds responsibility for Public Service, Dr. Ashni Singh, in an invited comment to this newspaper said the CDB has always been investing in Guyana and the country has been a proud member of the regional financial institution.

Currently, several world-class hotels are under construction, with the government looking to create a network of 2,000 rooms.

According to Dr. Singh, to drive growth in the hospitality and tourism sector, there is need for a quantum leap in service quality and innovation.

However, he noted that there was once a time where Guyana was not seen as having a massive tourism industry, but, now with partners like the CDB and other financial institutions and investors coming on board, there is vast potential for the industry.

“There was once a time where Guyana was not seen as having a big tourism industry or having a bright potential for tourism and so whether the CDB or any other institution, the likelihood of investing in tourism in traditionally tourism economies like Barbados and Antigua, ST. Lucia or Jamaica was considered greater than the likelihood of making an investment in tourism in Guyana …The fact that they are all investing in Guyana points to the global and regional recognition of the remarkable potential of the tourism industry in Guyana,” Dr. Singh said.