GETTING OUR ACT TOGETHER

Feb 25, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The Ministry of Tourism is fast being seen as a special events ministry. It should however recognise that it needs to go beyond merely hosting GUYEXPO in October and the Main Big Lime in December and become more involved in working directly with our airlines, tour operators, sporting bodies and cultural promoters in putting together special tourism packages, especially as it relates to weekend tourism.
As I wrote Monday, Mashramani, falling as it did this year on a weekend, offered a wonderful opportunity for Guyana to capitalize on a fast emerging tourism niche within the region: weekend tourism.
We missed an opportunity to bring thousands of Caribbean tourists to Guyana for Mashramani. It was a good thing that we did. The costumes and the bands were seriously depleted this year and it was fortunate that we did not market this event as a tourism product.
We have another few chances to capitalize on short- term tourism. The first of these is coming up soon in the form of Phagwah.
There is no country in the world apart from India where Phagwah is celebrated with such passion, fun and exuberance.
Phagwah is now a big thing in the tri-state area but there is always that missing element which can only be found by celebrating Phagwah in Guyana. Many Guyanese are willing to come home for Phagwah to be part of the local celebrations which are so rich in colour and fun.
Guyana should prepare a special calendar of appropriate activities to mark the commemoration of Phagwah so as to make it part of the festival tourism package which we have all been talking about for too long, but doing too little about.
Then just after that there is a weekend of international one day cricket with two matches being played, one on a Friday and the other on a Sunday. A number of persons will be arriving from England for these matches and also quite a few from the Caribbean.
The Ministry should turn this drizzle into a downpour by putting together a special package tour which should include airfare, hotel and the cost of tickets, and try also to ensure that those that do come have enough entertainment so that when they leave they would be only too pleased to encourage others to come to Guyana.
The next event to be looked at is Easter. There are two big markets here which should be explored. The first is Suriname.
The numbers on the ferry crossing between Guyana and its eastern neighbour would point out the large numbers of persons resident in Suriname who come to Guyana for the long Easter weekend.
This is therefore a specific group which should be targeted with the intention of increasing the numbers.
The second big market is in North America. School will be out also for the Easter weekend in North America and there are many Guyanese parents who long to have their children experience what a Guyanese Easter is all about. The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce should meet with an airline and negotiate a special package for tourist arrivals for Easter.
This is badly needed since airfares for an entire family at present are prohibitive and if Guyana wishes to really develop its tourism product along these lines, it will have to ensure that persons can afford to travel with their entire family at a far more reasonable cost than what presently exists.
This type of initiative is also needed for the August holidays when parents plan their vacation to coincide with the summer break for their kids.
Here again this is a potential lucrative market for Guyana but it means again that some attempt will have to be made to reduce the airfares.
Also there needs to be a lot more emphasis on outdoor activities for people when they come here. We have a great deal of talented persons in Guyana and therefore there is need to put together a calendar of events to ensure that when visitors come to Guyana and complete touring the resorts and waterfalls, that there are other activities for them to enjoy such as cultural shows, fun parks and sporting events.
All of these things do not require a great deal of vision but making the first step towards the planning that is necessary certainly does and therefore it is hoped that the Ministry of Tourism would quickly get its act together and seize the opportunities that are present.

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