Dear Editor,
Guyana is a really extraordinary country, and for various reasons neglected. The majority of the blame I put on the administration that was elected by the people of Guyana to govern properly. Looking at many other countries and the way they promote themselves, I believe that if Guyana were to do the same we would go a far way in the tourism race. The little pickings that enter Guyana are comical but given the numbers in the past, it seems to be sufficient reason for them to lay back and celebrate.
Tourism offers many benefits, including em-ployment, increased spending in communities, marketing for our produce/products, the development of communities, opportunities, etc, but why they are not concentrating more on it boggles my mind.
There’s no worthy preparation taking place to motivate tourists to visit Guyana, except for a few relatives and friends returning and being classed as tourists. There is an abundance of wildlife, scenic places too numerous to mention, adventures to experience, etc, but incredibly, Guyana cannot be marketed to attract tourists.
Apart from attracting visitors from other countries, there seems to be no incentive for locals to visit tourist sites throughout Guyana. The cost does not change for locals and that is bad because when you ask someone living in Guyana about certain places here, they cannot answer because they have never visited them. In addition, the chances are that they cannot afford to, even though they are interested in going. There should be some flexibility for people living here that would give them the opportunity to visit places, and I’m quite sure they will assist a great deal in promoting Guyana for free, using the various social media sites.
Editor, recently I visited Lake Mainstay in Essequibo, and as usual I was just in awe at the location, the design and the views on the way there. Going to the resort, you see small villages, but I don’t see anything on display that would attract tourists like art, craft and so on, especially when the villages are Amerindian villages.
One of the biggest drawbacks hampering the place is the road to get there. It is in such a condition that it would deter anyone in just a few minutes after leaving the public road. As it is now, it takes you almost one hour to reach Lake Mainstay from the public road, and if the road were graded you could reach there in just fifteen minutes.
The condition of the road was the same under the past administration. The road is a sand and loam road, and it should have been graded at least once a month because apart from the resort, it is utilized by the residents of the various villages and also by the farming community.
Now that the rain is falling, the two sides of the road seem to be walls and the water lodges in the middle, so when vehicles traverse, huge holes are formed.
That is only one location that is being stifled for lack of resources and prevented from being able to achieve an income to maintain itself; there are many others similar to that.
Yours faithfully,
Sahadeo Bates
