The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) on May 4th signed an agreement to develop an industry database as well as enhance training and capacity building initiatives for its members in the tourism sector.
According to a release issued jointly by GTA/ THAG, this initiative is being executed under the second action item of the 2019 THAG/GTA Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of supporting and empowering Guyana’s tourism industry. Its core objectives focus on increasing financial sustainability, strengthening the approach to training and capacity building, and improving data collection and aggregation.
THAG and GTA will jointly own the database and the collaboration agreement will serve for a year at which time it will be reviewed and renewed for another year.
In the area of communication, the GTA and THAG will share annual strategies and work plans and seek to foster alignment between the organisations. Through this agreement, providers within the database will be afforded the opportunity to benefit from the services available throughout the network.
The GTA says its objective is to make it easier for all in the industry to be registered and become licensed in accordance with the four Regulations under the GTA Act of 2002. All industry operators in compliance with the GTA regulations will be granted a basic listing on its website.
THAG meanwhile, informed that its members will be identified by a membership icon on the GTA’s website listing. This benefit is guaranteed as long as the member is registered with or licensed by the GTA. THAG says it will also provide its members and the travel trade with incentives to become licensed by the GTA and join THAG respectively. The incentives include a 10% and 20% reduction in GTA’s fees for training and licensing fees respectively. However, due to the COVID-19 situation, the GTA has suspended all training and licensing fees until September 2020 in an effort to support the industry as it prepares for recovery.
In area of training and capacity-building, GTA and THAG will work together to increase the number of training opportunities and the number of licensed operators on an annual basis through cost-sharing while being guided by the GTA’s annual training plan. Through this agreement, the partners will use opportunities presented to develop or secure curricula and implement train-the-trainer programming as may be required by the industry, the release added.
