The ability of local nature resorts to secure potentially lucrative agreements with overseas tour operators that could both boost their earnings and increase the number of visitors to Guyana is being hampered by the reluctance of the insurance industry to grant adequate insurance cover to the resorts, according to information reaching Stabroek Business.
This newspaper has learnt that an unofficial study carried out recently has revealed that local insurance companies are skeptical about providing insurance to some tour operators that provide some forms of compensation in view of a lack of confidence in the safety and other features in their operations.
Stabroek Business spoke with a local insurance industry representative who denied the existence of such a policy but said that the issue of “safety and other features” in place at nature tour facilities would definitely be a feature in determining whether or not they would secure adequate insurance cover.
The official told Stabroek Business that it had to be borne in mind that the insurance business was based on the principle of ‘measuring risk” and that the issue of underwriting by overseas underwriters was also an important consideration.
“Whatever the disposition of local insurers the question as to whether overseas underwriters would assume the risk is an important consideration,” the source said.
Meanwhile, a local tour operator told Stabroek Business that the issue of insurance was “a consideration” that had arisen in the industry.
The official conceded that some tour facilities “may be guilty” of not putting all the safety and other requisites in place and that this may be a consideration that has affected the attitude of insurance companies.
The official said that the insurance problem could only be properly resolved with the advent of “effective legislation for the tourist industry, which would compel all tour operators to offer services that reach a certain minimum standard.
