Tourists get ‘impressive’ GTA welcome

Apr 06, 2014 News

Kudos are in order for the employees of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), who managed to pull off an impressive breakfast welcoming ceremony for over 34 tourists arriving from the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada.
The guests were treated to a good dose of pan music as they helped themselves to a buffet of scrumptious Guyanese breakfast dishes like ‘baigan choka and roti’ along with mouth-watering bake and salt fish. The obviously satisfied tourists were especially eager to wash their food down with either fresh and nicely chilled coconut water or Guyana’s

The group of tourists poses with GTA Officials, Indranauth Haralsingh and Chevon Singh (standing beside each other in second row at the extreme right)

famous Banks Beer and El Dorado rum.
The tour was organized by Syed Rayman, a Canadian Travel Agent and proprietor of Roraima Travel Services.
Speaking with Kaieteur News yesterday morning, Rayman said that the visitors’ travel itinerary will cover tours to Kaieteur Falls and its National Park, the Baganara Island Resort, along with attractions in Guyana’s interior location along with Georgetown and Essequibo.
This newspaper was told that Rayman has been working with the Guyana Tourism Authority since November 2012 to organise familiarisation tours to Guyana.
The trips seek to target both Guyanese and non-Guyanese and while there have been quite a few of these tours, Rayman said that this is one of the largest groups to date.
As such, the GTA opted to make it memorable, with the hope that the visitors will leave the country and try to sell Guyana to their friends and family.
According to Rayman, the initiative was developed as a result of a networking session organised and executed as a means to ascertain the willingness of interested persons to travel from especially Canada to Guyana, for reunions and tours.
However, the interest of people soon increased significantly and even persons living out of Guyana have become interested in wanting to tour the land of many waters, so as to experience the traditions and learn about the relatively preserved Guyanese heritage.
Rayman told reporters yesterday that he truly appreciates the GTA’s response to the tour, noting that “they have outdone themselves.”
Most of the members of the group appear to be retirees in search of the experience of a lifetime and if their response is anything to go by, have found it.
During a brief chat with this newspaper, Jeanette Gomes, a member of the group said that she is returning to Guyana after many years, and that having arrived at the airport, it was realized that her birthplace had changed drastically. All for the better, she believes.
The woman who grew up in Lichfield, West Coast Berbice noted that she is quite pleased to see Guyana’s transformation, noting that she is eager to have the group visit her hometown where she can boast about the country.
Over the past few years, several groups attached to the esteemed National Geographic Explorers have been visiting Guyana repeatedly to capture sceneries and film videos of the country’s exciting wildlife.
Guyana has even been listed as one of the ‘must see places in a lifetime’, as well the best kept secret of South America.
Rayman told this newspaper that with support from GTA, he is looking to continuously bring tours to Guyana, which will help to hike the arrival figures, which, as of 2013 totalled 200,122, reflecting a 13.3 percent increase over 2012.

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