President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Kit Nascimento says though the association is on sounder financial footing the development of the local tourism industry remains challenging and he cited crime concerns.
In his 2014 President’s Report to THAG, Nascimento said that when he took office in August 2013, the association was in financial trouble, without major sponsors and had a net current balance of $329,198. “It’s good to be able to report that in spite of the fact that we have not increased our membership fees and have not increased our membership, we are no longer in the red,” he said, adding that today the current balance is $3,193.609. However, while “THAG is now in a considerably better financial position than it has been for some time” it is “still…insufficiently financed to fully carry out its mandate.”
In January this year, THAG concluded a sponsorship agreement with GT&T for 36 months. GT&T is investing $3M annually for a period of three years. DDL is also providing support for selective THAG activities.
Nascimento said that throughout the year, the association met regularly with the Tourism Ministry, the Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority and with the staff of the Ministry and the Authority as it lobbied government for legislative action favourable to the industry and for government to invest in a marketing programme for Guyana.
“We have worked closely with the Private Sector Commission in advocating the legislation of incentives for inclusion in our budget essential to make our industry competitive,” he said. Further, at the association’s President’s Awards Dinner, Nascimento said that he spoke frankly in support of the recommendations made in the Cecil Miller Report, a Report from a Consultant engaged by the government, and was disappointed that the recommendations were not reflected in this year’s budget, although both the president and tourism minister have since given public undertakings to implement them.
THAG had urged that a preferred rate of Value Added Tax be applied to hotels and tourism resorts in line with treatment that competitors across the Caribbean enjoy.
‘National environment’
At the meeting with the finance minister, THAG addressed the minister directly on the urgency of budgeting sufficient funds to clean-up the national environment and it remains anxious that the budgeted $1B would be used in an effective and sustainable manner.
Recently, at a meeting with Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud, THAG expressed its growing concern over the environmental damage being done to the Cuyuni, Mazaruni and Essequibo rivers by gold mining and the appalling garbage strewn state of Bartica’s waterfront and streets. “To the credit of the Minister and his staff, we were advised in writing that the EPA, in collaboration with the GGMC and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are implementing “a detailed water quality assessment of the Cuyuni River,” part of an ecological and physico-chemical assessment of the Cuyuni/Mazaruni/Konawaruk River Basin commencing this month.”
In addition, the ministry, together with the local government ministry has pro-mised funds from the ‘Clean-up my country” campaign and the mobilization of equipment to clean the entire waterfront of Bartica in anticipation of the International Yacht Rally to be held there next week.
Crime
An ongoing and persistent concern for the industry is the security and safety of Guyana for visitors. “If Guyana is perceived as a dangerous place to visit, no amount of promotional marketing will cause visitors to come,” Nascimento pointed out.
While the association has maintained a cordial and collaborative relationship with the Ministry of Home Affairs, “the escalating reports on crime and banditry and offshore piracy of our fishing boats do nothing to make us comfortable and less to improve our international image. When reports appeared recently in the media of passengers travelling from the CJIA Airport being attacked by bandits in police uniform, THAG engaged with Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee and met with him and senior police officers on August 6 for a frank discussion on the matter. “We were sufficiently satisfied that the Police have instituted measures to counter this threat,” he said.
Additionally, the association will present the findings of one of four consultancies it engaged over the past year, by the ACORN Group, at a workshop planned for today at the Regency Suites Hotel before submitting its final report to government. “THAG has fully participated in all of the meetings and has been a major contributor to the findings,” Nascimento said. The association looks forward now to the government financing and implementing the recommendations of this study.
