With Essequibo positioning itself to become the country’s standout place amongst the various destinations and varied across Guyana, there is, already, no shortage of emerging Tour Operators in the region who are vigorously blowing their trumpets over what they have to offer. When the Stabroek Business visited the Essequibo Coast recently we found Hilon James, a resident of Golden Fleece, and the proprietor of Eco Destination and Tours Guyana in a condition of animated anticipation.
Launched in March this year, Eco Tours, believed to be the first licensed tour operator on the Essequibo Coast, is wasting no time in offering what the Proprietor describes as “an authentic Essequibo experience” in what has long been touted as one of Guyana’s culturally richest regions. James may well be considered to be an unlikely ‘front runner’ in pursuit of the shaping of an authentic Essequibo tourism product, coming as she does from a profession that is decidedly distant from the pursuit of entrepreneurship. Her roots are teaching, serving as a Trained Teacher, though her current position as the Treasurer of the Essequibo Chamber of Commerce as well as her membership of the Essequibo Tourist Association qualifies her to throw herself more vigorously into entrepreneurship given the opportunities that are beginning to ‘open up’ in what is now an oil-driven economy.
