Tourism being pushed - Prashad
Stabroek News
February 22, 2007
Various efforts by the Administration to project Guyana as a tourist destination are paying off and for 2007 many aspects are being pushed to propel the sector even as Guyana prepares to host several major international events.
According to a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA), development in the industry will continue within the context set by the National Development Strategy and a major player in this expansion is the five-year tourism plan.
The press release said that Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Manniram Prashad said that the tourism sector recorded significant growth in 2006 with arrivals during the Christmas season surpassing those of previous years.
The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) reported that 113,476 tourists visited in 2006 as compared to 116,596 in 2005. GINA said that the decline which occurred during the July/August period was due understandably to the holding of National and Regional Elections.
The press release said that visitors from the United States accounted for 50 per cent of the total, while those from the Caribbean formed 25 per cent followed by Canada with 13 per cent. Guyana in 2004 recorded the highest number of tourists, with 121,989 arrivals.
Last March, the Ministry of Tourism launched its three-year birding tourism plan, building capacity for the provision of services for bird watching, an activity that is becoming increasingly popular in Guyana. The release said that there are over 800 species of birds in Guyana, with 25 per cent of them found in the City alone.
Another interest that the Government is hoping to propel is yachting and already there has been collaboration with the private sector and systems have been worked out to make entry into Guyana easy, as it relates to Customs and Immigration, the release said.
The National Budget has allocated $65.6M to the GTA to further promote Guyana as a unique tourist destination.
The five-year tourism plan which has been supported by the Inter-American Development Bank focuses on strengthening the GTA, expanding tourism education and training at the university level, implementing tourism regulations to improve standards and competitiveness, catalysing tourism development in the areas of agro-tourism, sports and events tourism, and nature-based tourism, including yacht and cruise-ship tourism with the addition of new facilities.