The Tourism Ministry recently hosted its annual Tourism Awards Ceremony and it was disclosed that Guyana and Barbados are working on a common destination marketing programme.
According to a GINA press release, the ceremony was held at the International Conference Centre on November 21, 2014.
Awards were presented in nine categories and the recipients are as follows: Pillar of Tourism Industry Award – Teri O’Brien; Tour Guide of the Year – Luke Johnson; Tourism Entrepreneur – Pandama Retreat and Winery/Warren and Tracy Warren Douglas; Tourism Ambassador – Annette Arjoon-Martins; Most Outstanding Community Tourism Project – Surama Eco-Lodge and Village; Destination Promotion – Office of Climate Change/Philippe J R Kok; Most Improved Tour Operator – Dagron Tours – Ann Hamilton; Tourism Recognition for Service in Tourism – Knight Rider Bus Service – Salim Twahir; President’s Awards for investment in Tourism – Alfro Alphonso- 704 Entertainment Complex / Chunilall Baboolall – Aruwai Investments and Brian Tiwari – BK Group of Companies.
In addition to those nine categories, recognition was given to former tourism directors, Donald Sinclair and Indira Anandjit; former ministers of tourism for services rendered during their tenure – Geoffrey Da Silva, Manzoor Nadir, Manniram Prashad and a posthumous award to Michael Shree Chan.
GINA said that the Tourism Ministry also launched the Tourism Ambassador Programme with Andrew King, Dave Martins, Nicolette Fernandes, Clive Lloyd, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Hugh Ross and Joseph ‘Reds’ Perreira as Tourism Ambassadors.
In his address to the gathering, President Donald Ramotar said, he believes tourism has a great future and the economy has to be diversified to accommodate this central role. More than that, the President believes with the advent of development of information technology and transport, the world is more aware of the country’s product.
Tourism Minister Irfaan Ali told the gathering, he believes the future of Guyana “depends heavily on a strong, sustainable, and a well-managed tourism sector,” and moreso, “the government believes tourism is going to be the centre piece for future growth.”
Ali said Guyana needs to showcase its diversified culture as it is this merging of culture that is its greatest asset. According to Ali, 42,000 jobs were already created and they are seeking innovative ways to increase consumption such as the educational tourism as offered in St Kitts.
There is a planned partnership with Barbados, the minister said, to market the two countries as a common destination. The Minister believes that collaboration is necessary among countries in the Caribbean region to make them more competitive in the world as tourism destinations.
As a part of the 2015 tourism initiative, there is a planned ‘Home Coming 2015’ to target more than 200,000 overseas Guyanese to return home for the holidays, Ali said.
Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Richard Sealy, in his address, noted the United Nations World Tourism Organisation statistics show a growth in the industry in terms of arrivals since 1950 with 25 million, to 1.078 billion in 2013 with a total of US$1.159 billion in revenues worldwide. More than that, Sealy said, “It is imperative for us to find workable solution to sustain us as a region facing serious competition.”
The Caribbean had just under 21 million visitors for the first eight months of 2014, Sealy said, of which Guyana had an increase of 7.4% which in effect, surpassed the region’s average growth rate of 3%. Sealy noted, that although there are 30,000 rooms under construction, stakeholders must not become complacent but rather should give tourists compelling reasons to visit the region. It is important that the population be integrated and feel a passion for the sector, he said.
