THE Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), Mr. Hugh Riley, has declared that Guyana has an incredibly strong tourism product, shown in the fact that the country has been nominated in all categories for this year’s Sustainable Tourism Awards.

He so lauded Guyana as he spoke with members of the media via Skype from the CTO office in Barbados.
Mr. Riley said it comes as no surprise that Guyana has been nominated in all six categories of the awards, which will be presented at the Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC), to be held in Trinidad and Tobago from April 15 to 18.
Categories for the awards are: Caribbean Excellence in Sustainable Tourism, for which the Karanambu Lodge was nominated; Destination Stewardship, for which the Conservation International Guyana was nominated; Sustainable Accommodation, for which the Atta Lodge was nominated; Community Benefit, for which the village of Aranaputa was nominated; Heritage Protection, for which the National Trust of Guyana was nominated; and the Biodiversity Conservation, for which the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society (GMTCS) was nominated.
Mr. Riley pointed out that Guyana hosted the conference last year, and said that when the country participates in this year’s conference, it would effectively be relating some of what happened during the last conference.
He expressed gratitude to the Government of Guyana, particularly to Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister Irfaan Ali, for the successful hosting of last year’s conference.
Minister Ali had, early last month, expressed confidence that, given the potency of the Guyanese eco-tourism product, victory this year in all six categories of the awards is inevitable. He had said that winning is important, as it sends an important message to the international community — to international tourists and groups of tourists that look at eco-adventure, nature adventure, and sustainable tourism – that the region’s haven of sustainable tourism resides in Guyana.