This year GUYEXPO was slightly off target in terms of attendance, but on Sunday evening the biennial event recorded its largest ever turn out with 17,000 paid entries, according to Tourism Minister, Manzoor Nadir.
The event, which was dubbed the largest trade and investment exhibition to have ever taken place in Guyana, was held at the National Exhibition Centre, Sophia, Greater Georgetown from Thursday last to yesterday.
To some it lived up to expectations while to others poor attendance on the first two days limited its success. But to Nadir, the trade show provided maximum exposure for the businessmen and their products.
In an interview with this newspaper at the exhibition site yesterday, Nadir disclosed that for the four days there were in excess of 28,000 paid adult entries, 7,000 children and some 5,000 passes used by exhibitors. He said that the first two nights of the show (Thursday and Friday) the attendance was very disappointing, noting that less than 4,000 patrons visited the site.
According to Nadir, while during the day attendance at the site was scanty, during the nights the gathering was very large. Nadir noted that peak hours for the show were between 8-10 p.m.
In terms of achievements, Nadir said that the biggest plus was the exposure for locally manufactured goods and services. He said from comments from patrons they were impressed by the quality, range and presentation of products. He posited that the companies that went to the show this year will see increased interest in their goods and services as well as sales.
Commenting on the exhibition itself, Nadir said it is all about exposure, “it’s about feeling and touching and feeling the product and about trying out the product, it’s about putting buyers and sellers together, not about doing transactions on the spot.”
Some of the exhibitors yesterday complained that they had not registered significant sales during the four days.
One exhibitor said that all that the patrons were doing was observing the products on display.
Nadir however observed that some of the exhibitors had said they did well over Saturday and Sunday. He said that all of the products on display were attractive.
He mentioned the open-door centre, handi-craft, information technology, Iwokrama and other areas as having done very well in terms of business. Nadir posited that all of the exhibitors in one way or the other captured the attention of the visitors.
With regards to overseas visitors, Nadir said that organisers had not been able to gauge fully their response since they have been coming and going. But he assured that they were at least 30 serious businesspersons from various countries, besides other visitors. He said overall the attendance was not as good as in previous years and the targeted figure fell short by 15,000 persons.
The exposition was extended by a day to yesterday and according to the minister, the additional cost was in excess of $0.25M. He said because of the recent spate of crime, especially the four killings in Kitty last week Wednesday and the two in Buxton on Friday, the prospect for a larger turnout was blighted.
Despite that he was grateful that President Bharrat Jagdeo himself spent over four hours on Saturday night walking around the centre. He said that the media also helped in publicising the level of security which assisted in reassuring citizens of their safety.
Nadir said that in terms of security everything was well organised. He gave credit to the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force and five private security firms. However, he said that there were a few petty thefts on Sunday evening when persons unknown picked up exhibitors’ products on display and walked away. Apart from that the minister said that there was no major incident and the patrons were very cooperative.
For the exhibition, generators were used since, according to Nadir, it was less expensive.
In terms of drawbacks, Nadir said that there were some organisational problems.
He mentioned that some exhibitors were severely inconvenienced since when they turned up at 8 am for entry into the centre the gate was not open. Nadir noted that this happened because the same crew that was used to close up the centre in the nights was required to open the centre in mornings.
He said that he was not pleased with that situation and as such they had to organise an opening up crew and a closing down crew. He also said that they were not able to prepare all of the parking spaces for the first two days but later things were rectified.
He observed too that they could have done better in terms of the VIP parking.
Nadir said that there had been good coordination between organisers and the exhibitors, adding that his workers were constantly monitoring the exhibitors.
Nadir praised Percival Boyce, coordinator of the show, his staff and members of the private sector and exhibitors.
Looking into the future, Nadir said that extensive work has been done on the site and the ministry wants to fully utilise it. He said that what he sees emerging from GUYEXPO is an opportunity for the country to host sectoral exhibitions.
The minister said that the next exhibition will take on a different form, and he would like to see improved security, cooperation between exhibitors and also specific themes for the different sectors.
Stabroek News toured a few of the booths on the complex and spoke to exhibitors who all expressed appreciation for the show that was put on by the Ministry of Tourism.
Hardat, a salesman of farm supplies and general equipment said that the exhibition helped to showcase their products a lot. The business enterprise deals with all types of agricultural machinery, generator sets, rice milling equipment and other items.
He said that many persons were not aware of the location of the business and as such it was a good advertisement for them.
However, he was disappointed that their targeted customers who are farmers were not present in large numbers at the show. He said that while they did not get many sales for goods on display it was comforting for him to see the few who visited the booth. The business is located at Rome Access Road, McDoom, East Bank Demerara.
Ruth Shuman of St Cuthbert’s Mission was one of the few Amerindians who journeyed to the city to occupy a booth. Yesterday the woman was not pleased with the level of business she had been doing over the days.
She said that the few persons who visited her booth only observed her handicraft products but hardly purchased anything.
From all reports, according to Boyce, the food stalls and the entertainment spots did more business. The general feeling of the exhibitors was one of satisfaction at being able to market their products.
Yesterday the exhibition was free for schoolchildren.