Two nature resort owners in Guyana and Suriname are collaborating to launch an initiative designed to undertake the marketing of each other’s facilities in the respective countries along with a collective effort to aggressively promote ‘the three Guianas’ overseas.
Guyana’s Arrowpoint Nature Resort owner Captain Gerry Gouveia and Suriname’s Kabalebo Nature Resort General Manager Karl Dawson both told Stabroek Business that the conclusion of the agreement embodied in a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which they were scheduled to sign on Thursday, represented a historic first in terms of collaboration between the two countries in the promotion of their respective tourism products.
Under the MOU, marketing and promotion initiatives undertaken by Roraima and Kabalebo will take account of what each other has to offer so that persons accessing promotional material disseminated by either company will access the services offered by the other.
Gouveia, who is also Chief Executive Officer of the Roraima Group of Companies, told Stabroek Business that the conclusion of the MOU had been realised after about four months of discourse between the two entities.
Established in 1993, Arrowpoint Nature Resort is situated on the left bank of the Kamuni Creek, off the Demerara River. One of the popular examples of Guyana’s eco-tourism product, the facility hosts approximately 500 visitors annually.
Established ten years ago, Kabalebo is located in the middle of the country’s Amazon rainforest. Its primary target is the Netherlands which accounts for around 80 per cent of the approximately 1,500 visitors it receives annually.
Gouveia told Stabroek Business that he had seen Kabalebo for the first time last year and was “particularly impressed” with the facility and what it offered.
He said he believed the completion of the MoU was likely to be a precursor to “more aggressive promotional initiatives” involving the three Guianas. He added that there were distinct advantages to be derived for both countries from their international promotion “as a package.”
Meanwhile, Dawson confirmed that the MoU signed by the two resort owners could extend to tours to Arrowpoint and Kabalebo, respectively, by visitors from the two countries.
Dawson told Stabroek Business that he believed there were distinct advantages to be derived from Guyana and Suriname “marketing themselves together. We are natural partners because of size and because of the fact that we have similar economic outlook that include tourism, mining and hydropower.”
