HEAD of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Indranauth Haralsingh says that Birdfair 2013 in England was a very successful venture for Guyana. He points out that the major objectives of promoting Guyana as a top bird watching destination, securing new leads, networking and obtaining feedback were achieved.

In addition, there were other achievements such as a presentation on Guyana’s biodiversity, hosting a Guyana Summer Destination Presentation Event, and identifying potential tour operators/travel writers for a Guyana FAM trip.
Haralsingh was reporting on Guyana’s participation in Birdfair 2013 during a press conference yesterday at the GTA office at Sophia Exhibition Site, Sophia.
The Birdfair was held from August 16th-18th 2013 in Rutland, England.
The British Bird Watching Fair (BBWF) is being dubbed as the ‘international wildlife event of the year’ and it is the world’s largest birdfair or festival organised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.
This year, Birdfair celebrated its 25th anniversary and Guyana has been attending for the past nine years. Birdfair attracts over 300 exhibitors and over 25,000 birdwatchers, nature lovers, wildlife enthusiasts, conservationists, etc from all over the world.
Guyana’s participation at the BBWF from 2005 – 2011 was funded by the Guyana Sustainable Tourism Initiative (GSTI), a partnership between USAID and the GTA. With the culmination of USAID’s support for tourism in 2012, management and ownership of Guyana’s booth was transferred to the Tourism & Hospitality Association of Guyana.
NICHE PRODUCT
Bird watching is one of Guyana’s most successful niche products and the market for bird watching is growing.
The team from Guyana included Wilderness Explorers – Tony Thorne and Claire Antell (representing THAG, Iwokrama, Surama, CATS, Rewa, Karanambu, Yupukari, Rockview, etc), Guyana Tourism Authority – Indranauth Haralsingh, Rupununi Trails (representing the Wai Wai and Dadanawa), the Guyana High Commission – Mr. Carl Brown and Specialist Bird Guide – Mr. Luke Johnson could not attend since he was not successful in obtaining a UK entry visa.
Haralsingh also reported that hundreds of persons visited and interacted with the team in the Guyana booth per day. Many were satisfied birdwatchers who had visited Guyana while others were very interested in Guyana and are planning holidays here. In addition, he noted, many want to visit a second time but are seeking tailor-made packages while many came seeking information and to sample the El Dorado Rum.
Many visited because of the rising popularity of Guyana as a birding hotspot and as an off-the-beaten path birding destination with top species such as the Harpy Eagle, Red Siskin, Sun Parakeet, etc. along with amazing wildlife. The booth was also used as the venue for several meetings with tour operators and potential visitors and was a great forum and platform for networking.
Haralsingh pointed out that there was a record 18 international tour operators proactively selling, promoting and advertising destination Guyana at the Birdfair through their catalogues and websites compared with just one operator eight years ago.
Tours are being advertised for Guyana in 2013, 2014 and 2015. This represents U$ millions in PR and advertising for Guyana. The impressive list includes Cox & Kings, Mot Mot Travel, Exodus, Naturetrek, Rock jumper, Manu Expeditions, Wildlife Travel, Geoddysey, Zoothera, Sunrise, Birding, Tropical, Birding, Wildwings, Orintholidays, Reef & Rainforest, Speyside Wildlife, Bradt, Travelling Naturalist, and Wildlife Worldwide.
Most of these companies came to a FAM trip to Guyana sometime ago and were convinced to sell destination Guyana. This market-led approach is the best model for Guyana and has provided the best ROI (Return on Investment).
He also stated that a number of key meetings were held with potential new tour operators (and former operators) who have a keen interest in selling destination Guyana. Expanding the sales and distribution network is critical to the growth and development of birding in Guyana. Fourteen companies and tour operators who have a high interest in selling Guyana are as follows: Trogan Tours, Birding Ecotours, Green Tours, Sarus Tours, Birding Breaks, Bird Holidays and Avian Adv, just to mention a few.
A variety of birding and destination collateral materials (brochures, guides, maps) were available for distribution. Wilderness Explorers launched its new destination planner which is its main marketing tool and sales brochure.
The GTA launched the publication ‘Butterflies of Iwokrama and the North Rupununi Communities’ in response to numerous inquiries for Butterfly Watching trips/tours. New brochures and itineraries from Dagron Tours and Rupununi Trails also complemented the variety of tourism literature distributed.
The Explore Guyana Magazine, Bradt Guyana Guides, Guyana Where & What along with catalogues from tour operators selling destination Guyana were also available for distribution and display.
Head of the GTA reiterated that Guyana’s participation was very successful and noted that they have achieved the objectives established. The ROI on participation at the Birdfair is excellent. The list of international distributors is growing and Guyana is gaining more popularity as a birding destination.
“We should continue attending and support the private sector. This has always been a good example of public- private partnership. Birding trade and media FAM trips should be increased and we should continue to work in partnership with selected tour operators to promote destination Guyana,” Haralsingh concluded.