Seven years after the launch of the Wedding Expo product by the Roraima Group of Companies, Chief Executive Officer Captain Gerry Gouveia has told Stabroek Business that the absence of legislation to better facilitate Wedding Tourism in Guyana amounts to “an opportunity that we continue to pass up” to broaden the base of the local tourism industry.
Wedding Tourism has long been a lucrative sub-sector in the Caribbean tourism sector and Gouveia told Stabroek Business that the reason for its relative lack of success here has to do with the fact that prevailing legislation dictates that expatriates wishing to tie nuptials in Guyana must be in the country for around two weeks before they are allowed to do so. “The waiting period is much shorter elsewhere in the region, a matter of a few days, and understandably that situation is much more attractive for people who simply want to fly in, get married, enjoy a nature-filled honeymoon here than leave,” he said. “I have been discussing the issue of looking at the legislation to make the lead time shorter with local officials for some time now but, frankly, there is no evidence that any progress has been made.”
Gouveia said he had learnt that the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), the Guyana Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism, industry and Commerce had met to discuss the matter but that he could not say what the outcome had been. “All I can say is that from my vantage point it does not seem that we have gone forward on the issue.
Gouveia said he had learnt, unofficially, that the idea of leaving the legislation untouched and addressing the question of expediting marriages on a case-by-case basis might have been mooted somewhere. “If that is in fact the case I am skeptical about it. I do not believe that we should add another tier of bureaucracy to that which already exists. There is legislation that addresses this matter and if the legislation is inadequate then we should amend it,” he said.
According to Gouveia, it had been suggested in some quarters that official reluctance to move in the direction of amending the existing legislation “might have to do with the concerns regarding the possible creation of a bigger loophole for facilitating the practice commonly described as ‘visa weddings’ by allowing such marriages to take place quickly. I definitely do not subscribe to the idea that our laws, including those governing wedding tourism, should be built around considerations that have to do with United States visas. It is not a matter of being unmindful of the issue of what we call ‘visa weddings,’ it is a matter of taking advantage of a legitimate economic avenue which exists here but which is not being enjoyed in Guyana anywhere near as much as in other parts of the Caribbean.”
And Gouveia told Stabroek Business that strong official backing for Guyana’s tourism product has to be supported by a preparedness to strengthen the sector as the need arises. “The experience of the rest of the region and the experience of Roraima Airways tells me that wedding tourism is good business.
I have known of cases where up to 200 people travelled for a wedding. That’s big business. It means our hotel rooms, our restaurants, our taxi services, our tourist resorts, our craft markets and our various service providers in the wedding industry are all affected by a successful wedding tourism sector,” he stated.
Asked about the company’s projections for this year’s Wedding Expo Gouveia said that this year Roraima will once again be offering the ‘Race to the Altar’ feature, a competition for couples engaged in imminent wedding plans. Couples are invited to apply to compete for the prize of an expenses paid wedding, which, this year, will be valued at more than $3 million and which will be funded by a number of sponsors.
During the competition the couples will engage in various quizzes, competitive games and adventure-type challenges at Roraima’s Arrow Point interior resort. “We tend to put a lot into the ‘Race to the Altar’ because we believe that it is a way of fulfilling a dream for a lucky couple who will get a wedding that they would not otherwise have been able to afford,” Gouveia said.
