With Guyana now ‘soaking up’ its global popularity as a favoured destination for business and – to a lesser extent – as a holiday destination, Tourism Minister Oneidge Walrond had unsurprisingly announced late in June that visitor appetite for the country is expected to increase for the rest of 2024. Contextually, the Minister is urging stakeholders to contribute to the creation of a convivial environment that can further enhance visitor appetite for the country.
While there is manifest evidence that an expansive urban infrastructural overhaul that includes roadways, hotels and places of entertainment are now visibly underway, making Guyana ready for sustained streams of visitor arrivals is still some distance away given the ground that still has to be covered in basic areas including adequate and suitable accommodation and places of entertainment. While even now a succession of enticing business and investment fora are staged in the capital with monotonous regularity, a suitably tasteful environment that can hold visitor attention beyond the substantive purpose of their visit remains palpably underdeveloped.