Record number of visitors in December
-projects Nadir
By Andre Haynes
Stabroek News
December 28, 2003
The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce expects a record number of visitors to the country for December, in keeping with the high numbers from September to November, says Minister of Tourism Industry and Commerce, Manzoor Nadir.
At his end of year press conference, Nadir said that in spite of cancellations, which he blamed on media coverage of the crime situation, these were not enough to break his projections that at least 15,000 visitors would have arrived for December, making the number of arrivals more than last year for the same period.
Some 45,000 seats were made available coming into Guyana for December, accounting for some 20% more than usual for the airline industry, which usually puts on extra flights.
Nadir said that the year "started out really bad for the tourism sector" because of the effects of the high level of serious crime that started way back in the year (2002) before running into December and continuing into the first quarter." Arrivals up to the first half of June 2003 were 17% less than the corresponding period for 2002, he reported.
However, a bit of trade promotion, a small television advertising campaign and the ministry's support for Guyanese activities overseas such as the folk festival in New York and the Independence Celebrations in Toronto, had, he suggested, paid off as the number of visitors increased significantly from September to December.
Noting that 70% of the visitors are Guyanese returning on holiday, he said the media could help by their approach to covering crime.