Region 10 launches tourism capacity building project

The handing over of the bus
The handing over of the bus

The Region 10 Tourism Committee Inc. on March 20th, 2024 launched its Greater Guyana Initiative (GGI)-sponsored, Tourism Capacity Building Project and opened its new office.

The project is geared towards building the capacity of Region 10 tourism, through the development and implementation of training and related activities. The end goals are to establish a standard of training for tourism service providers in Region 10, that enhances the presentation of tourism products, create jobs, and improve skills.

GGI is financed by the three oil companies in the Stabroek Block: ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC.

A press release from the tourism committee said that the event saw representation from Mayor Sharma Solomon, who lauded the committee for taking the lead in this venture and pledged the Council’s continued support; Town Clerk, Lennox Gasper; Socioeconomic Manager, ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, Susan Scott; GGI Co-Venturer (CNOOC) Huang Zhao and Ian Chung; members of the Regional Democratic Council, tourism stakeholders and other business owners. Delivering the feature address was President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana,  Omodele George.

According to the release,  George assured the committee of THAG’s support in all its endeavours and commended the committee for the steps taken to move tourism forward. She charged the Region 10 Tourism Committee and other tourism stakeholders to make safety a priority, underscoring its importance.

Devin Sears, Chairman of RTTC, who also spoke at the launch, assured invitees that as “Guyana continues to be globally recognized as the number one ecotourism destination in the world, and with an economy that is growing at an exponential rate, Region 10 will not be left behind and I can confidently say that with the inputs from all stakeholders we can turn this emerging industry into something that changes the lives of every citizen in a positive way”.

To aid the success of this project a new office was opened, an administrative officer assigned and a mini bus unveiled. The new office is located at the Linden Fund USA building, South Industrial Area, Linden. The release said Region 10’s Tourism Committee Inc. was officially registered in December 2021, as a Not for profit organization and has maintained a nonpartisan approach towards achieving its objective which simply surrounds making Region 10 the No.1 Tourism destination in Guyana.