Tourism battle looms as small operators dump THAG

Oct 12, 2008 News

…Government to produce own tourist guide

As the country prepares for Tourism Awareness Month in November, one of the worst battles among tourism operators and the Government could be shaping up.
Small operators of the tourism and hospitality sector, who feel cheated by the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), are moving to set up their own Association during November, and Government support may already be guaranteed.
Further, THAG, which produces the official tourist guide of Guyana with a fair amount of Government funding, faces more trouble, as the Government is moving to produce its own tourism magazine.
The head of the new tourism association, who preferred anonymity until the official launching, said small operators have been handed a raw deal by THAG.
The small operators claim that THAG does little to support them. For example, the operators say, they are often asked to pay a fee for THAG to hand out their brochures at international travel shows.
The new association is to be named the Guyana Independent Tourism Association, and the prospective president of the association told Kaieteur News that he is receiving the support of the Government regulatory body, the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), and the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.
The new association already has the commitment of the GTA to distribute its members’ promotional material at international travel shows.
This is likely to start when the GTA attends the World Travel Market in London from November 10.
The move by the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce to publish its own tourist guide has been vehemently opposed by THAG over fears that such a move by the GTA could hamper THAG’s marketing revenue.
THAG has produced the country’s official tourist guide, titled “Explore Guyana,” over recent years. THAG contracts Advertising and Media Services of St Lucia (which has a Georgetown office) to publish the magazine.
The magazine being published by the GTA and the ministry is titled “Destination Guyana – the Amazon Adventure.”
Some 25,000 copies will be printed and distributed globally, with concentrations in Guyana’s main Diasporic/tourist markets, such as the Caribbean, Canada, Holland, Suriname, Venezuela, Brazil, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, the USA and the UK.
Kaieteur News also understands that an electronic version of the “Destination Guyana” magazine will be hosted online.

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Tourism battle looms as small operators dump THAG

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