At the conclusion of the opening ceremony at the International Convention Centre at Liliendaal to mark the start of what Private Sector Commission Chairman Gerry Gouveia described “as the biggest ever gathering of Guyanese and Brazilian businessmen that I can recall,” smaller caucuses of entrepreneurs on both sides gathered to discuss possible cooperation initiatives in a range of areas including agriculture, manufacturing, travel and tourism. One such caucus convened to explore the possibilities of collaboration between the Guyana tourism and hospitality sector and the hotel, eco-tourism, entertainment industry in northern Brazil.
Tourism Minister Manniram Prashad who delivered the feature address at the Tuesday March 23 opening of the seminar is already anticipating that the forthcoming Rupununi Rodeo, the first since the opening of the Takutu Bridge could attract at least 5,000 Brazilians. Prashad told the gathering that while Guyana was one of the few countries in the region to record an increase in visitor arrivals last year, the extent of that increase is likely to be far more impressive if local statistics were able to take account of overland crossings from Brazil and the increase in travel between Guyana and Suriname resulting in the new Blue Wing travel service between Ogle and Paramaribo.
The caucus on travel, tourism and entertainment attracted five businesses in the hotel, travel, eco-tourism and resort industries from the state of Roraima including representatives of the new 160-room Boa Vista Echo Hotel which is scheduled to be opened in June; a company named Mega Tours that is seeking to collaborate with the entities in the local tourism sector to sell airline and bus tickets and to explore business possibilities in the eco tourism and cargo haulage sectors and Green Mountain Travel Agency the representative of which said, significantly, that apart from the company’s interest in promoting travel between northern Brazil and Guyana it was also interested in developing a facility that would enable the teaching of Portuguese and English to Guyanese and Brazilians.
On the Guyana side there was representation from the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) in the person of its President, owner of the Cara Lodge Paul Stephenson and Princess International Hotel representative Liz Rahaman who told the caucus that the hotel’s new casino which is currently seeking to broaden the base of its guests, is hoping to offer visiting Brazilians an entertainment opportunity as an alternative to casinos in Aruba and elsewhere in the Caribbean. Stabroek Business has learnt that the Brazilian visitors are guests of the Princess International, a circumstance that would have provided them with an opportunity to “sample” Guyana’s first ever casino.
Challenges associated with the language barrier turned what ought to have been a 15-minute introduction between the two sides into an extended 90-minute encounter, an experience that underscored the importance of infusing language training into what now appears to be an emerging initiative to kick start overland travel, trade and commercial relations between Guyana and northern Brazil. THAG President Paul Stephenson, who chaired the caucus, told Stabroek Business afterwards that he was pleased with the initial encounter and that he was keen to participate in the subsequent one-on-one sessions between and among the respective entrepreneurs and their representatives during which exploratory talks would ensue on possible specific areas of collaboration.
