By Marcelle Thomas
Guyana and Barbados are expected to sign a tourism partnership agreement in the not too distant future following a fact-finding mission by a 110-member delegation from the Caribbean island.
Led by Barbados’s Tourism Minister, Richard Sealy the group winged out yesterday after spending three days visiting facilities as well as tourist attractions in the city and the interior.
In an interview with Stabroek News, Minister Sealy stated that much depends on the thrust of the newly elected administration led by President Donald Ramotar. The Barbadian minister hopes that the Ramotar government would welcome the initiative since the two countries have much to learn from each other.
Sealey said the success of cooperation would not only depend on governments but heavily on the private sectors in Guyana, Barbados and airlines in Europe, the United States and Canada. He also alluded to the opening up of the “more convenient” Ogle International Airport to regional airlines and the improvement of airstrips in the interior.
“There is an excellent opportunity for it…These are the types of developments that we need to think about and plan around,” he said.
Another initiative being explored by Barbados and the regional low-cost carrier, REDjet, are tour-packages that could see mainly British tourists visiting ‘Little England’ and hopping across to savour Guyana’s rich flora and fauna.
Dual variety
“What is going on in Guyana in terms of its tourism product is something we need to see, experience it and learn from it,” said Sealey. Barbados attracts 12 British Airways flights weekly and nine from Virgin Airlines. Many of the European travellers, he said, wanted dual-variety vacations. Stakehold-ers involved want to benefit from this initiative making Barbados the destination with sun, sand and sea and Guyana the leg which would see the tourists visiting waterfalls, the Iwokrama conservation rain-forest and viewing the many different tropical plants and animals the interior offers.
He emphasized that talks were at a very preliminary stage with REDjet and carriers to be part of the vacation packages, so he was not in a position to go into details about what was in store for citizens or vacationers at this time.
One of the groups being targeted, he said, is retirees who are pursuing active lives rather than being comfortable in rocking chairs.
Stabroek News also spoke to some persons who fell into this category from the island. Barbara Walters who only gave her age as “16 going on old enough” said that she indeed did not see herself as wanting to retire in a rocking chair but wanted to go trekking and exploring Mother Nature’s earth. Said Walters “Yes Yes I want to age actively. Gone are the days when old people are to stay at home and grow old. I am not feeble I can do everything so let me make the best of it…I want to be out here sightseeing, moving, shaking. I want to grow old gracefully yet very active”. Her friend, while smiling for a photo for Stabroek News, echoed all Walters had to say, adding “why do you think we are here? We want to experience for ourselves”. The ladies too informed that they had a pleasurable stay in Guyana, singling out hospitality as one of Guyana’s best resources.
Minister of Tourism Sealy further acknowledged that Guyana was now developing its hotel stock and players in the two countries needed to examine issues such as packaging, standards and safety. The conditions here, he said, were unlike those in Barbados where tourism facilities are in some cases old.
“Barbados has been fairly tourism-reliant now for a while and Guyana is not tourism-reliant and the culture and the orientation of the economy and its make-up is different so getting that tourism product packaged with a mature one would need to be looked at and those issues would be included,” he said.
Coming just in the aftermath of Guyana’s general and regional elections, Sealey said the team was assured that the atmosphere and conditions were still appropriate to visit the country.
“We are not signing any bilateral agreement with the government of the Coopera-tive Republic of Guyana in which case it would be politically inappropriate to be here now,”
Guyana has been invited to send a delegation on a return visit, as part of an ongoing regional thrust to enhance the tourism product.
He added that Guyana being in its fledgling tourism state can learn a lot from Barbados’s expertise being one of the Caribbean’s largest and oldest tourist magnets. Vice versa Barbados can learn much from Guyana in the areas of eco- tourism and hospitality among others.
Sealy informed that already the Barbados conference service is interesting in providing assistance to the Guyana International Conference Centre.
He added that his ministry’s officers enjoyed the opportunity in experiencing tourism of a different “sun sand and sea” nature and they were all left in awe at the scenic beauty of Guyana’s flora and fauna. Many were already planning their return trips although admitting that they did not know of the folklore rule of eating labba and drinking creek water which supposedly forces on its partakers return travels to destination Guyana.
Coordinator of the trip Hugh Foster explained to Stabroek News that the delegation, which was here for fellowship and team-building, included officials from the Barbados Conference Ser-vices Limited and the Barba-dos Tourism Authority as well as their friends and relatives.
He added that many decided to bring along family members making for a working vacation. He said that after the three-day stay “the entire contingent did not have one negative report of anyone’s stay in Guyana”.
