Guyana’s painfully ponderous journey towards a vibrant and lucrative tourism industry notwithstanding, newly elected President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) Andrea de Caires is upbeat about the prospects for the sector. “We are not where we need to be but we are moving in the right direction,” she says.
She believes that for the first time the board of the state-appointed Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) “is learning to behave the way it was intended to behave.”
By that she means that there now exists a more consultative relationship between the GTA and the THAG-driven, privately-operated tourist sector. She believes that this welcome change in the relationship between the GTA and the tourism sector could well mark the beginning of an era in which a great deal more can be done, substantively, to take the sector forward.
It is a welcome assessment coming as it does against the backdrop of an environment which, it is widely felt, is characterized by protracted lip service by government to the development of a viable tourism sector. The accomplishments, unquestionably, have not lived up to the hype.
Still, de Caires insists that the much greater consultative environment between state and sector could well be the engine that finally drives the industry forward. She credits Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin whose portfolio includes Tourism, for the change in the relationship. “He listens. He believes in consultation,” she says.
In her capacity as President of THAG, de Caires sits on the Board of the GTA. Four other members of the Board are members of THAG. The GTA’s role is to advise and make recommendations to the minister.
This year, “for the first time,” de Caires says, there has been real consultation between THAG and the GTA. “We were asked to review the budget, to say whether we think the money is being put in the rights place. We were invited to make our recommendations.” In the context of what went before she considers this a “huge” development; and while she concedes that government and THAG do not always agree, “we are in consultation for the first time.”
One current issue on which there have been differences is the recent application of 14 per cent value added tax (VAT) on airline tickets. “We met with Minister Gaskin and we expressed our concern and though we are concerned about the tax at least we got the opportunity to make our point.” The particular concern which THAG has in relation to the VAT on airline tickets has to do with the fact that tour operators sell seats well in advance of travel. What this means is that those operators will now have to meet the additional VAT charges. “Had we been consulted beforehand we would have requested a grace period. This one fell through the cracks; but I think the good thing is that we can correct the problem, going forward… I do think that we have a partner in Minister Gaskin. I do believe that we have a voice on the GTA Board of Directors. I think that this is something that we have never had before and I applaud it.”
According to the THAG President, while there exists, understandably, a national excitement about sectors like gold and oil, tourism is a sustainable industry. “We need to invest in protecting what we have so that we can continue to have it. By protecting our forests and sharing the beauty of Guyana we are actually creating jobs here in Guyana.”
THAG, de Caires says, believes that there are sufficient “good examples” here in the region and the hemisphere that can serve as useful guides for the local tourism sector. She named Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago as countries that provide guides that Guyana can follow selectively. “We can follow examples of what has worked. Where someone else has been successful we can look at what they have done right and what they have done wrong and try to repeat their successes and not their mistakes.”
Responding to the view that the tourism sector continues to be hamstrung on account of Guyana’s limited marketing abroad, de Caires told Stabroek Business that it was her view that global awareness of Guyana “may be changing.” In that context she alluded to a recent travel event which she had attended in Anchorage, Alaska at which she met with groups from all over the world that were inquiring about bringing visitors to Guyana.
