Guyana is part of the next frontier for tourism

Jul 24, 2016 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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(Excerpts from an Address by His Excellency Brigadier David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, at the Annual Awards Dinner of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana)

Tourism is an essential element in the national economy. It is not a hobby, a pastime or a sideshow. Guyana must learn to manage the tourist industry with the same seriousness and thoughtfulness with which it manages the gold and rice industries.

Tourism is an essential element in the world economy. It was, a couple of years ago, the seventh fastest growing sector of the global economy. The rate of growth of the sector in 2015 outpaced the rate of growth of the global economy.
The industry generated US$ 7.2 trillion dollars annually or 9.8 per cent of global Gross Domestic Product. It accounted for one in every eleven jobs in the global economy.
Tourism has established itself as an extremely resilient economic sector. Its prospects are bright. The industry is projected to enjoy sustained global economic growth over the next decade. This growth is expected to be driven by emerging destinations.
Guyana has been designated as an emerging destination for tourism. This country was listed by National Geographic’s travelers’ magazine as among 21 destinations which should be visited in 2014.
Guyana is part of the next frontier for tourism. The tourists of the world are becoming sick of the sun, sand and sea wave that enveloped much of the Caribbean after the end of the Second World War. Tourists are seeking to understand the world in which they live. They, more intelligently, are becoming increasingly conscious of the need to protect the environment.
Tourists are seeking exciting experiences. They are choosing, increasingly, ‘adventure’ tourism; ‘education’ tourism; ‘eco’-tourism; ‘geo’-tourism and ‘wildlife’ tourism, in preference to hunting expeditions and trophy safaris.
These numerous and various products are available as part of the basket of products in our tourist industry on which this country could be, should be and would be concentrating.
Eco-tourism, and its related forms, has the greatest potential and, probably, is the most promising product we have. It is the one product that can make our country a global player is in the international tourism market. It has the capacity to become the most transformative subsector in the economy. Our country’s competitive advantage lies with ecotourism. We must exploit this advantage.
Guyana is strategically situated in one of the world’s most attractive geo-physical zones. We are a part of the Guiana Shield which is one of four of the world’s remaining tracts of relatively undisturbed tropical forests.
The Guiana Shield covers an area of 2.5 million square kilometres and is believed to be over two billion years old. It incorporates parts of Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Guyane, Suriname and Venezuela. The Guiana Shield is one of the most biologically diverse regions on earth.
Forests still cover over three-quarters of our country’s territory. We possess vast areas of unexplored and virgin territory. We possess innumerable sites and attractions for the development of ecotourism. Protected Area Systems will ensure that these resources are conserved for sustainable tourism for future generations. We will place an additional 2 million hectares of land and waterways under conservation, in accordance with our commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Protected areas will be established in each of our ten regions to ensure that conservation is national in scale and covers all of our ecological zones in scope. Ecological parks, nature reserves and sanctuaries for our endangered species will be established to protect our flora and fauna and our natural habitats, ecosystems.
Guyana’s ecotourism competitiveness will be enhanced by the fact that we are part of Caribbean and also the Continent. We share borders with three South American countries. We are placed strategically to tap into the large tourist markets of our sister states of the Caribbean and the continent.
We are also a politically tranquil place. This contrasts with the war zones of the world which are experiencing conflict and warfare. Our stability should encourage increased tourist arrivals in the years ahead.
The promotion of eco-tourism will be essential to the enlargement of our national economy over the next two decades and beyond. We aim at ensuring that our eco-tourism sector will be developed more deliberately and more methodically over this period.
The protection of the environment is a central pillar of a green economy. We will ensure that the development of the eco-tourism sector will accord with the principles of sustainable development to which our country has long subscribed. Eco-tourism, for us, involves the preservation and conservation of our natural assets, including our flora and fauna.
Guyana’s eco-tourism product, however, cannot be developed without improvement in investment, infrastructure and information technology.
– Investment by the private sector is needed to develop more eco-resorts, and lodges and to open new attractions. Investment is also needed to renovate existing resorts and lodges which have been affected by low occupancy and the underdevelopment of the sector in past years. We will aggressively court investment for the ecotourism sector.
– Infrastructure, especially transportation, is essential to ensuring the competitiveness of our country’s tourism product. Our most desirable destinations are located in the hinterland. High transportation costs can undermine the competitiveness of our eco-tourism product. We will, as part of our national infrastructural drive, invest in improving the infrastructure of our hinterland regions, including aerodromes, bridges, highways, roads and stellings. The infrastructure that will be introduced and improved in the coming years will act as a catalyst for the development of tourism.
– Information is transmitted at the speed of light. Tourists around the world search ceaselessly for information about potential destinations. Our country’s ecotourism product is attractive but not attractive enough to sell itself without the aggressive dissemination of information. The experience of satisfied tourists can do much to promote our country’s tourism.

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