The first ever Caribbean Tourism Summit scheduled to take place in Washington from June 21 – 25 offers an outstanding opportunity for Guyana to refine its understanding of the challenges and potential of the tourist industry and to revalue its approach to the development of the sector according to a senior tourism sector official.
Former chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan is expected to be the principal speaker at the 5-day tourism summit and according to Executive Secretary of the Tourism & Hospitality Association of Guyana Maureen Paul Guyana ought to make it a point of duty to send a strong delegation to the meeting.
Stabroek Business has spoken with the head of the state-run Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) who said that government was aware of the forum and that it was likely that there would be some official representation in Washington.
The summit which is expected to attract more than 1,000 participants from the region including representatives of regional governments, and the tourism and investment and financial sectors is being organized by the Caribbean Tourism Development Company (CTDC) which is jointly owned by the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and the Caribbean Tourism Organization. (CTO)
The Washington meeting is expected to address issues relating to marketing and investing in the regional tourism industry and the implications of tourism for the development of other economic sectors including the agricultural, construction, aviation and manufacturing sectors.
Paul told Stabroek Business that the linkage between the growth and development of the tourism sector and the simultaneous expansion of other sectors raises “promising prospects” for Guyana. She added that the region-wide Washington forum would provide the local tourist sector with an opportunity to join “a high-level and constructive regional discourse on issues that are pertinent to the expansion of the tourism sector in Guyana and the Caribbean.”
Noting that the tourism sector was currently the fastest growing sector in the global economy Paul said that there was every indication that the linkages between tourism and other sectors of the economy opened up opportunities for Guyana which, in the context of the Caribbean, were unique to the country.
According to the THAG executive the creation of investment packages and the identification of clearly designated areas for tourism were critical to attracting local, foreign and joint venture investments to the sector. She said that the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, the Rupununi savannahs and the intermediate savannahs possessed strong potential for designation as tourist areas. She added that the designated areas needed to be provided with roads and other infrastructure if they are to prove worthwhile to potential investors.
Paul said that the June Washington forum could provide both the government and private investors with valuable insights into approaches to the development of the tourism sector in other regions, some of which, she said, could be studied and modified to suit the particular circumstances of Guyana.
Noting that over the years there has been “no real investment” in the marketing of Guyana’s tourism product Paul said that the development of the country’s tourist industry required “visionary leadership that would place the development of the product on the same plane as agriculture, education, health and the various other important sectors.”
