THE ATTACK ON TOURISTS HURTS GUYANA’S IMAGE

Jan 24, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The recent murder of an oversea- based Guyanese while home on a visit will hurt Guyana’s tourism image which still depends on family tourism.
Each year, large numbers of Guyanese return home for varying periods. Most are from the Caribbean and many from North America and Europe where there are large numbers of Guyanese.
It was not surprising that matches involving Guyana in the Caribbean 20/20 tournament which concluded last night attracted the largest gates. In Antigua , it is believed that there are in excess of 15,000 Guyanese living on the island and far more in Barbados.
There are Guyanese all over and from time to time they will return home for either a holiday or for some special occasion and when they do they will spend their foreign earnings and boost the economy.
Guyana is not as a crime-ridden as some Caribbean states such as Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. Yet in Jamaica and other Caribbean islands there is not a high incident of attacks on tourists. This is because these islands appreciate the value of tourism to their survival and therefore take steps to ensure that tourists are safe.
The tourist areas within most of the islands of the Caribbean enjoy good security but the people are also conscious of the value of tourism to their economies and therefore this aids in reducing crime.
In Guyana however, it is not unusual to regularly read about an attack on someone visiting from abroad. Particularly in the Berbice area, foreign based visitors are sometimes targeted because it is believed that they carry foreign currency and other valuables which the criminals are after.
The general picture is however not as bad as it is painted. The number of foreign-based Guyanese or visitors who are attacked and robbed in Guyana is very small compared with the total number of visitor arrivals but the effect of even one attack can have serious economic repercussions.
For one, those incidents are usually carried in the media and therefore reaches a national and worldwide audience.
There are thousands of overseas based Guyanese who closely follow what is taking place back home and when they read about these attacks on those returning home, they make their decision about whether they wish to come to Guyana for a holiday.
This is why it is important for these attacks to be reduced. It is not as if there are large numbers of criminals in Guyana targeting every person coming from overseas.  It is believed that these attacks are usually the work of a small number of small gangs or individuals who will eventually be caught.
However, by the time they are caught they would have done great harm to the image of the country and this is why greater effort is needed to ensure that these criminals are caught before they can do further harm.
Given the light levels of external remittances to this country, the fact that almost every household in Guyana to some extent benefits from overseas contributions and from tourism, the fact that with problems in the world economy there is a need for this sort of assistance to continue in the near to distant future, then all Guyanese should recognize the importance of the safety of visitors to the country whether they are coming from New York, Miami. London, Barbados, Antigua, Suriname or Brazil.
Guyanese never developed its tourism sector in the sixties and the seventies because those that ran the country at the time felt that foreign influence was bad and did not wish to promote tourism because of the idea of cultural imperialism.
Yet in the eighties, they opened the door to a more invidious form of cultural penetration when they allowed unrestrained foreign television broadcasts.
As such Guyana does not have a tradition that appreciates the economic value of tourism.  Guyana can begin to do this by taking steps to reduce the number of attacks on tourists, particularly in the rural communities.
To assist with this, they need the cooperation of the members of the public.  It is noteworthy that at no time when these reports are made in the media, do the police ask for assistance in identifying the perpetrators, as happens in most developed countries in the world where public assistance is solving crimes.
The people have to involved in crime-fighting. They must also begin to see tourism in the same way as they see a factory or an office. These places create jobs and bring incomes to others.
Tourism  should not be about foreigners and foreign- based nations coming to your country for their own pleasure, they are coming to your country to enjoy your country.
So when they are robbed and attacked, and as sadly happened last week, when one of them is killed, it reflects on the entire country.
It is like a factory suffering a fire. When that happens all workers suffer. Similarly when one tourist is attacked, the entire tourist industry and all those who benefit also suffer.
Until Guyanese begin to recognize this and take steps to create a safe environment for tourism then Guyana will never be able to benefit, as other countries are doing, from the tourist trade.

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