The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) and the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (BCSI) on Thursday last signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see Guyana benefiting from ways to improve its tourism products, including accommodation, food and management.
“So we would be working over the rest of this year and as long as THAG needs us to help, to put some new structures in place to be able to address the needs of the sector and the needs of its members directly,” BCSI Executive Director Michelle Smith-Mayers said during the signing.
Smith-Mayers said she was optimistic that the support given would see impactful changes in the sector. She explained they are working on an analysis of what the needs are in the sector and ways in which they can implement changes.
She added that businesses must look at increasing and improving the level and quality of service currently offered. Smith-Mayers stressed the sector also needs skilled personnel to better service the industry.
“This is a cooperative partnership. This is not a situation where we are charging for these services. We feel that it is important for us to help the hotel association and help THAG to be strong because it will be very necessary to have a strong hospitality and tourism association in Guyana in the next few months and beyond,” she said.
The signing of this MoU is a result of the St Barnabas Accord between President Irfaan Ali and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, which covers tourism and international transport.
Under the said agreement, President Ali had announced that Barbados will assist in training Guyanese for jobs in the tourism and accommodation sector. However, since that announcement in 2021, there has been no word on the startup of the programme to train over 6,000 Guyanese.
Guyana Tourism Authority Director, Kamrul Baksh had told Stabroek News that the training would be a hybrid of virtual and in-person training.
Meanwhile, THAG Executive Officer Oslyn Kirton noted that the collaboration between the two agencies comes at a time when Guyana is seeing a growth in tourists coming here and more hotels establishing a presence. She stated that the partnership in developing the sector would continue throughout the year.
THAG President Harrinand Persaud said that the collaboration will place the country in a position to offer quality services, similar to Barbados’ tourism sector. He said THAG looks forward to the collaboration and improving the services of its 42 members.
“We can definitely gain a lot from Barbados. They have been very busy and popular with tourists and Guyana is now in the spotlight. So, we hope that we can offer the same level of service and quality that Barbados is known for, and our presidents have definitely wanted us to cooperate and this is definitely a step in the right direction,” Persaud said.
