IN its continued efforts to ensure that the highest quality of standards and services are delivered in the Tourism and Hospitality Sector in Guyana, the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), hosted a Hospitality Assured workshop on Tuesday at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal. The aim of the session, facilitated by lead Hospitality Assured Advisor in the region, Ms. Shirlene Nibbs of Antigua and local Assessor, Mr.Kenneth Bentinck, was to enlighten stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality sector in Guyana on the Hospitality Assured Certification Programme.
Deputy Director of GTA Ms. Tameca Sukhdeo-Singh, in addressing the representatives from various private sector entities including Cara Hotels, Herdmanston Lodge, New Thriving Chinese Restaurant and Tours are Us, emphasized the importance of the event for the development of standards in the Industry.
She stated, “As part of our activities for Tourism Awareness Month, we recognized the need to endorse this activity as we recognize that standards are pivotal to the development of the Tourism Sector.”
Singh pointed out that as the Tourism Sector in Guyana is still developing; there is an increasing need to ensure that a standardized tourism product is delivered to customers whose expectations are geared towards excellent service delivery.
Alluding to the expectations of the initiative, the GTA Deputy Director said, “We want to ensure that we work along with the private sector to develop standards throughout the region to be able to deliver a good product to tourist when they come here.”
In her presentation on the essentials of Hospitality Assured, Ms. Shirlene Nibbs explained that the programme should be viewed as a business framework for business excellence.
“It is a programme that promotes overall service and business excellence at the company level,” she explained.
She pointed out that in light of the fact that most territories in the Caribbean are heavily dependent on the Tourism and Hospitality sector, it is of great importance to recognize that competition exists on a global rather than a regional scale.
It is with this in mind, she revealed, that the Hospitality Assured programme was specifically developed to address the service industry to improve the performance and competitiveness of business.
It will further allow the businesses to demonstrate their commitment to service and business excellence to exceed the expectations of their existing and potential customers.
She also assured the participants that accreditation would provide them with an industry “yardstick” by which to measure improvement against other accredited organisations and the Hospitality Assured “marque of excellence” could then be used in promotional literature, proof of their commitment to provide the “very best service” to customers.
Ms. Nibbs told the business representatives that the route to accreditation would involve ten steps which were identified to achieve service excellence, following which the business entities will be required to pay the cost of the assessment.
To compliment Ms. Nibbs presentation, Local Assessor, Mr. Kenneth Bentinck, then informed the participants about the procedures involved in Assessment process and emphasised the importance of adequate preparation for Assessment.

Hospitality Assure was introduced by the Institute of Hospitality in the United Kingdom and launched in 1998; it has since become the first standard in the worldwide Hospitality industry to achieve the prestigious endorsement from British Quality Foundation and Quality Scotland that its requirements meet the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model.
This ensures that customers will see Hospitality Assured accredited companies as being of “the very best” and by the industry as being “leaders” in their field.