Latest update December 11th, 2024 1:33 AM
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Rival tourism bodies spark war of words
Captain Gerry Gouveia
Leading tourism entrepreneur and chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Captain Gerry Gouveia, says “it’s crazy” and “nonsense” for the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) to be supporting a new association of private tour operators and to be publishing a rival publication to that of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG).
Gouveia said the GTA, as the government regulatory body, should concentrate on its primary responsibilities of marketing Guyana and implementing safety and standards in the tourism and hospitality industry, instead of trying to operate like THAG.
Kaieteur News first reported on Sunday that the GTA is moving to publish 25,000 copies of a magazine called “Destination Guyana – the Amazon Adventure”, rivalling the official tourist guide, “Explore Guyana,” which has been published by THAG since its inception over 10 years now. The GTA is also supporting the formation of a new association of tourism operators called the Guyana Independent Tourism Association (GITA).
Gouveia, who incidentally sits as one of the directors on the Board of the GTA, declared that the publication of the new tourism magazine was not approved and sanctioned by the board. He said that the Executive Director of the GTA, Mr Indranauth Haralsingh, has to function as directed by the board, and not independently of it.
THAG represents the spirit of tourism in Guyana and was the body that lobbied the Government for the creation of a Ministry of Tourism when the politicians were not even thinking of tourism, Gouveia charged.
As a result, he said, the Government should be looking to work with the private sector and build the Guyana tourism product, instead of trying to compete with the private sector.
The tourism entrepreneur is surprised, too, that the GTA is expressing support for a new tourism association, saying it would not result in any good for Guyana. Instead of seeking to support a division among tourism operators, the GTA should be focused on marketing Guyana as a brand to compete with countries like Belize and Costa Rica, whose products equal what Guyana has to offer.
Gouveia said that Guyana remains virtually unknown to the rest of the world; and for those who do know, they still think this country to be part of Africa, or, like Iraq, with rampant violence.
He said that while the private sector has a role to play in marketing the country, it was the GTA’s prime responsibility. He cited the case of Jamaica, which has recorded some 500,000 American tourists for the first half of the year, spending some US$46M on marketing.
Mr Gouveia contended that the fact is that the local tourism industry is not thriving, but struggling, and therefore, “we need to be building this country.”
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