(Trinidad Express) Guyana’s minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Irfaan Ali , has made a pitch to yachties in Trinidad to come visit his country as his Government attempts to stimulate an ecotourism-based economy.
More than 50 yachties attended the forum, organised together with the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association, at the Lure Restaurant in Chaguaramas on Tuesday night.
Ali encouraged the yachties currently anchored here to visit Guyana.
Yachties will be able to access Guyana through Bartica, Essequibo, a gold and diamond mining town of about 15,000 people.
The minister said because Guyana is in the early stages of developing a yachting industry as part of its overall ecotourism package, a lot of the usual fees (anchorage, harbour master, etc) will be forfeited. Guyana registered only 16 yacht visits for 2011.
Ali said his Government, through its Guyana Tourism Authority, is willing to bend over backwards to facilitate visas for yachties that will allow them to stay for as long as one year.
Ali said the Guyanese government has decided to partner with Trinidad and Tobago because of T&T’s large travelling population and because the two countries are very closely integrated, in terms of culture and people.
Speaking to the gathering of yachties who hailed from the USA, UK and other parts of Europe, Ali said Trinidad and Tobago also has a very developed market that Guyana can model itself after.
“That’s why we came here to showcase Guyana as the next-step destination for yachting and sailing, as well as a good place for eco and nature-based tourism,” he said.
“We are overwhelmed by the interest shown here that derived from this forum, and we hope this will be the force behind the building of a serious tourism industry in Guyana,” Ali said.
