ON Thursday, several persons completed a risk and emergency management training exercise for tour operators by participating in an assessed tour simulation at Little Baiboo, Mahaica.

During the exercise, participants were placed into two groups and were expected to follow a structured approach to demonstrate their understanding of safety and operational procedures when executing tours.

This included a pre-tour safety talk covering expectations, risks, and emergency measures, ensuring all rules were followed during the tour, and conducting a post-tour check to account for all participants.

This initiative was part of the Guyana Conservation Initiative, implemented by EMC Inc. and the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development, with funding from the ExxonMobil Foundation.

Over the last few days, participants underwent tremendous training in risk identification, hazard identification, risk management, emergency management training, and first aid training with practical exercises in neck spinal injuries, CPR, how to undergo it properly, and the man overboard training.

The conclusion of the training marks a significant milestone and the beginning of greater responsibility. The skills and knowledge gained are expected to play a critical role in shaping a safer and more professional tourism environment.

With a need for collaboration, the Guyana Tourism Authority, EMC, Iwokrama, and ExxonMobil Guyana came together to formulate this training.

The Managing Director of EMC Shyam Nokta in his remarks said that Little Baiboo is one of the new tourism hotspots, primarily for the rich biodiversity, ecosystem, the habitats that the area is known for, and the appreciated delicate balance between the environment and development.

The EMC head said that the EMC has been working closely with the GTA through the Guyana Conservation Initiative which is supported by Iwokrama and the ExxonMobil Foundation. Through that initiative, there are a series of activities, including training and capacity building.

In July 2024, the EMC had a forum to bring together tour operators who were doing tours on the Mahaica River to listen to their experiences and their recommendations of what are the things that are needed to be able to improve the work they do, as well as the experience they offer to tourists and visitors.

Going forward, he affirmed that the EMC group is excited to continue the partnership and to be able to extend this type of training to other tourism zones in Guyana, as well as to look at some of the other elements of offering a world-class experience.

Continuing along the lines of offering a world-class experience, the President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Dee George said: “Our tourism product is in good hands, and, whenever we see initiatives as these, we are filled with confidence because confidence in our product then transcends to the persons who are looking at our world-class product and experience, and once our tour operators are confident, then it automatically transfers to the client who has chosen us.”

Meanwhile, Tameca Sukhdeo Singh, Community Relations Adviser representing the ExxonMobil Foundation said that as the Guyana Conservation Initiative progresses it is exciting to see the impacts across regions in Guyana.

“For the Foundation, it is important that we have positive impacts in the communities that we touch. This goes beyond the work that ExxonMobil Guyana is doing to develop the country’s oil and gas resources to generate new revenue. It speaks more to the community investments that impact communities in different ways,” Singh posited.

The Exxon representative stated that the river watershed is not just a source of fresh water for agriculture and potable water for our city and surrounding development zones but is also a biodiversity hotspot and a gem for nature-based tourism on Guyana’s coastline.

Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Kamrul Baksh noted that getting this level and quality of training to other areas where there are concentrated operations, means it will help to reassure travellers and those persons looking to book tours to Guyana as our destination profile improves.