President Irfaan Ali and First Lady Arya Ali joined several Cabinet ministers at the opening of the Visit Rupununi Guyana Tourism Information Centre in Lethem this morning.
During his remarks, Ali highlighted the importance of human resources in community-based tourism, a statement from the Office of the President said.
“For tourism to work, the people must understand what tourism means. We must live tourism and be the best we can to each other, the environment and more importantly the country”.
Ali also noted that part of the region’s tourism package must be a partnership with neighbouring Brazil.
“We must build a common profit with our neighbours. Once we are able to merge these two products and cooperate we will have one of the most powerful tourism products anywhere in the world.”
Ali also delivered the feature address at the opening ceremony for the rodeo where he said that the event is one of Guyana’s greatest and has the potential to be a marquee event in the Caribbean.
The President also emphasized the importance of investing in product development.
“Making Rupununi and Region Nine a staple in tourism requires investment.”
He said that the Government will be making significant investments in infrastructure works in the region and will connect it to other parts of the country.
To further aid in the development of the event, President Ali donated $1m to the Rodeo Committee.
