THE Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) is heartened by the more than $200M which has been allocated in the 2012 National Budget for the continued expansion of the sector, saying it points to growth within. THAG President, Mr. Paul Stephenson made the pronouncement during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Friday following the Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh’s presentation of the $192.8 billion estimates to the National Assembly.
Alluding to the significance of the allocation, Stephenson said: “For the first time, the Tourism Sector has taken up so much time in Parliament. I was very encouraged by what Minister Ashni Singh said and the fact that he allocated so much time in the Budget presentation on our sector is the best news I have had, so far, this year.”
He noted too that previous Budgets over the years did not feature the Tourism Sector as “the main player.” “As such, this year’s focus is a good sign, in terms of the capability of the sector towards contributing to the growth of the national economy.”
Stephenson also said that brief discussions with the industry stakeholders revealed positive feedback on the Budget presentation.
“I will need more time to examine the document but I do not think that this will change my perspective. I am very impressed,” he reiterated.

Stephenson lauded the efforts of the Acting Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Irfaan Ali, in working along with the Private Sector and other critical stakeholders to develop innovative initiatives which will see the expansion of the sector.

Very positive
Stephenson noted that the recent meeting with Minister Ali was a very positive one as it was disclosed that there are a number of tourism initiatives being pursued.
He said: “We, recently, had a meeting with the minister and this has been very positive. There are a number of initiatives that the ministry is trying to work on, including yachting, which will also support the sector. The minister is working very well with the Private Sector and the partnership is very important.”
Dr Singh, in his 2012 presentation, said that tourism remains one of the sectors in which Guyana has a significant comparative advantage, given its vast and unique endowment of nature, so the budgetary allocation for it has increased this year, from over $150M in 2011.
“Our policy for the sector aims to ensure that the Guyanese tourism product maintains its relevance and attractiveness to target audiences; that the capacity of the industry is increased; that standards are raised and maintained; that the unique Guyanese product becomes as widely known and as favourably regarded as possible and that the destination and the industry are made as competitive as possible,” he told Parliament.
In addition, he pledged that efforts will continue to ensure that the sector accelerates its growth towards realising the fullness of its potential, through the execution of major projects and through the hosting of Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development (STC), within another few weeks.
The major focus of the conference will be on issues relating to conservation, integrating biodiversity principles into hotel and resort siting and design and agro and culinary tourism, while allowing  Guyana to showcase its tourism product to the over 250 delegates and over 30 international journalists participating from the Caribbean, North America and Europe.