Tourism Congress concludes, deemed successful

Mar 23, 2018 News

Kim Osborne, Executive Secretary for Integral Development of the OAS

Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin

The 24th Inter-American Ministerial Congress on Tourism yesterday, wrapped up its two-day session at the Marriot Hotel with more fruitful discussions by ministers and high-level authorities on achieving sustainable tourism, through multi-destination travel and building resilience in the tourism sector.
Following ten plenary sessions by officials, yesterday’s all-day meeting concluded with the adoption of the ‘Declaration of Georgetown’. This document forms the basis for the development of partnerships for the growth of the tourism industry in the Americas.
Minister of Business with responsibility for Tourism, Dominic Gaskin, who chaired the conference, noted that the discussions will ensure a transformed tourism sector in Guyana.
“What was good about it (the Congress) were the discussions…a lot of the topics discussed were very relevant to Guyana. We have a lot to learn. We are fairly young as a tourism destination. To have all this expertise from different countries in the same room is very good exposure for us”, Minister Gaskin said.
He added, “It was very valuable for us and it gave us a sense of where we are and where we need to go with tourism in Guyana.”
Executive Secretary for Integral Development of the Organisation of American States, Kim Osborne highlighted some of the high points stemming from the meeting for most of the representatives.
“What we had was strong indications of support, collaboration and co-operation between and among countries, to share dialogue and experiences, to share lessons learnt and good practices; to the extent that member states have offered co-operation to each other. We are grateful for the outcome of the meeting”, Osborne said.
She also commended Guyana for hosting a memorable event.
“Guyana did an amazing job at hosting and showing the product it has to offer. I think that hosting this ministerial congress really positions it as an emerging destination in the Americas with the flora and fauna, and amazing natural products. It is something people were not really aware of, and it was an opportunity to tell the rest of the Americas what Guyana has to offer.”
This year’s Inter-American Congress of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of Tourism saw a total of 26 Organisation of American States (OAS) member states representatives, participating. The next Congress is expected to be held in Paraguay in 2021.

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