GUYANA, in its continuing efforts to promote its immense ecological, nature and adventure-based tourism offerings, is looking to attract flying clubs to its destination. As such, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Indranauth Haralsingh, along with Managing Director of Rainforest Tours, Frank Singh, last Friday welcomed Keith Dorken, a member of the Perth County Flying Club, in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, who along with his wife, Heather, are visiting Guyana.
The couple is joined by Ron Norman, who is the pilot of a privately owned small airplane that landed at the Ogle International Airport, East Coast Demerara from Grenada. Ron is here with his wife, Nancy.
The group, which left yesterday, took the opportunity to enjoy the Guyanese hospitality and experience its natural beauty by visiting several tourist attractions, including Kaieteur.
Dorken explained that the original expedition was to be from the Buttonville Flying Club out of Toronto with nine planes, which has over 200 active members, but they had to cancel.
He said two members of the club are from Guyana.
Dorken said they left Canada about a week ago and flew down to Florida, from where they headed to a chain of islands – Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico, Martinique, Grenada and then here.
He said from Guyana, they will be heading to St. Lucia, St. Maarten and the Bahamas, and then back home to Canada.
““We fly frequently all over the United States and this is the first time we have actually left US airspace and flown in the Caribbean,” he said.
GTA Director Haralsingh said the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and the Tourism Authority are pleased to partner with Rainforests Tours to welcome the group to ‘Destination Guyana’.
“It is something that we want to encourage, for flying clubs from various parts of the world to fly to Destination Guyana. This is a high-end market and an exclusive group of people; it has a target market that we want to attract to our destination,” he said.
Haralsingh said, at the same time, the Tourism Ministry is working on a strategy to attract flying clubs from elsewhere in Caribbean to come here.
He said they are also working with the Yacht Association of Trinidad and Tobago to encourage, as part of a Sale Guyana Week later this year, yachts to come to Guyana.
“…so for yachts and small planes – Guyana is the safe haven, the ideal target,” the Director of GTA told media operatives.
“We are very happy and glad that they are here in Guyana and we want to encourage them to come back and to bring others to the destination,” he said.