President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Ms. Nicole Correia, welcomed the eight visitors at the Prairie International Hotel in Coverden, East Bank Demerara on Wednesday.

She stressed that Guyana has an abundance of eco- and adventure tourism possibilities to offer and hoped the visitors will experience the beauty of Guyana, despite only being able to get "a small taste of the country."

Most members of the group are Guyanese now residing in Canada.

"It is part of our concept to encourage non-resident Guyanese to come back and visit the beautiful nature sights they never saw when they lived here," explained Mr. Danny Doobay, Honorary Consul General for Guyana in Canada.

"We also hope that they will bring their children to give them the opportunity to learn about their country and its culture. That is what our 'Come home, come home and enjoy Guyana' campaign is all about", he said.

"We would also like to reach the broader community. Guyana has an extremely amazing product to offer - it's vast and beautiful nature. If you are seriously interested in eco-tourism, you have to come to the Amazon area.

"Guyana has the advantage of being an English-speaking country, making it practical for tourists from North America and Europe.

"If we are able to package our resources properly, there is a good chance of eco- and adventure tourism developing into a major player of our economy," the Consul Genaral elaborated.

The tour operators were taken on a speedboat ride across the Demerara River to the Arrowpoint Resort at Pokerero Creek. The group stopped briefly at Santa Mission, looking at the Amerindian art and craft produced by the villagers as well as the local library built by Arrowpoint Resort.

Arrowpoint's Director, Captain Gerry Gouveia believes in the principle of environmentally friendly tourism. The entire resort has been built by Amerindians using indigenous techniques and style.

"I believe the only way for a project like the Arrowpoint Resort to work, is for the people from the surrounding communities to be directly involved and benefit. That is why all people working at Arrowpoint are local Amerindians. In addition to building the library, we also adopted the school in Santa Mission", he explained.

After a short introduction to the history and facilities at Arrowpoint, part of the group went on to spend the night at the Timberhead Resort.

The others went on a nature-walk through the rainforest, guided by an Amerindian ranger who pointed out different plants and their traditional usage. The visitors were then shown how to bake cassava bread and enjoyed swimming in the creek and playing volleyball at the white sand beach.

After enjoying an excellent dinner, the group went on a "creatures of the night" stroll through the jungle to spot some animals and observe the Amerindian staff catching fish.

The group reunited yesterday morning at the Timberhead Resort and went by boat and jeeps to the Shanklands Rainforest Resort. They will be arriving in Georgetown tomorrow.

Mr. Bob Bawles, Executive Tour Director for Boots Adventure Tours of Canada said: "Boots Adventure Tours is organising eco-tourism trips in Brazil and Cuba and we are currently looking for a new country to explore.

"I am here to find out whether we can set up a tour to Guyana. Our clientele are mostly academics close to their retirement looking to do some nature- and bird-watching.

"Guyana has an abundance and great variety of nature and birds. It is obviously too early to make a final judgement, but what I have seen here at Pokerero Creek looks very promising," he reflected on his first day in Guyana.