Rockstone receives tourism and hospitality training

Oct 12, 2010 News

Tour Guide Facilitator, Paul Waldron, with young people of the Rockstone community.

– ahead of Rockstone Fish Festival

The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) hosted a series of tourism and hospitality training sessions last Sunday in the small fishing community of Rockstone, Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) ahead of the much-anticipated fifth annual Rockstone Fish Festival.
According to the GTA, the groups were trained at the Arawana Lodge in three main areas: culinary arts (food handling) by Carnegie School of Home Economics Lecturer/Instructor, Ms. Joy-Ann Harry; Tour Guide training facilitated by Paul Waldron; and Customer Service training was done by GTA’s Deputy Director, Ms. Tameca Sukhdeo-Singh.
The Authority said in a press release that it has been working in collaboration with the Rockstone Tourism Association (RTA) to ensure that the event comes off successfully and boosts the development of the community.
The GTA and the Ministry of Tourism have been working with the community since the Rockstone Fish Festival was first staged in September 2006. The Festival is held to promote the location as a tourist attraction and generate income and opportunities for the community of some 250 persons.
The GTA, since last August, has been meeting constantly with the RTA to discuss preparations for the fish festival, and the RTA has identified the need for training in the areas of food handling, tour guiding, and customer service.
Food handling and presentation are very important; customer service is one of the basic necessities in any event to ensure quality and customer satisfaction. The GTA Deputy Director said that tours around the area will be conducted during the fish festival, and as such, it is vital for the villagers to effectively promote and market their tourism offerings.
Sukhdeo-Singh also acknowledged the willingness and contribution of the facilitators.
She observed that the participants were very interested and excited to learn new things, especially the young persons who took advantage of the tour guide training.
Toshao of Rockstone, Mr. Rance Allicock, extending the community’s appreciation, said that the training is a welcomed and much-needed gesture, which will ably assist them in raising the bar on the event.
He acknowledged the willingness of the Tourism Ministry and GTA to support them in their endeavours and said he looks forward to more of such training.
The Rockstone Fish Festival is slated for this month end. The small riverain village, which is located 18 miles west of Linden, was made popular after being featured in a 2003 National Geographic article headlined ‘Catfish Hunters’.
It is now gearing itself to be transformed into a hub for actions for the Rockstone Fish Festival, which is the first of its kind to be held in Guyana and it continues to generate interest and excitement among fishing enthusiasts and others.
Some activities include fishing expeditions, fish catching and cooking competitions and guided river tours.
The surroundings offer possibilities for bird watching, river safaris, nature walks and sport fishing and, as such, the Ministry of Tourism, GTA and the community are working on developing the area as a tourism attraction for visitors.
Nearby is the Golden Beach and Gluck Island which has a rich population of birds, at least 140 species, and is a natural habitat for the giant otter, big river turtles, ‘Howler’ monkeys, labbas, iguanas, bush hogs, black caimans and is home to the National Flower, Victoria Amazonia.