‘Guyana can earn much through Sports Tourism’ says ‘Reds’ Perreira

Nov 10, 2018 Sports

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“Dere’s gold in dem thar hills” was a familiar cry in the United States of America in the early days of gold prospecting when miners made new discoveries; and now renowned broadcaster and sports organizer Joseph “Reds” Perreira puts it differently as he shouts that the country of his birth (Guyana) can reap a golden bonanza out of international sports tourism.
He says that Guyana (which is much bigger than all the English-speaking Caribbean countries combined) with considerably more in mineral, forestry, riverain and other resources (but a very small population), has paid little attention to the wealth it can reap from well organized sporting tournaments by foreign teams, twinned with carefully planned and securely guarded tours of the country by foreign players, their families, friends and supporters.
Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia and Grenada have already shown over many years how such tours (even of school teams) can positively impact relationships between countries and increase foreign exchange inflows.
He foresees such an initiative impacting all sectors – the Government, Sporting Organizations/Associations, Food, Beverage, Souvenir and Clothing Producers, Tour Organizers and other related areas in the economy.
In his view, visiting teams taken on scenic tours are more likely to be thrilled by the beauty of this large country and the uniqueness of its history which served to shape its present, moreso than the games they won or lost. The former Sports Director in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) points out that the beneficiaries will be not merely state institutions and sports organizations, but also small hotels and restaurants, and a wide range of other service providers, Indeed, much of this was outlined when he conducted a seminar at the Guyana Pegasus Hotel nearly a year ago.
“Reds” Perreira has been urging officialdom and captains of industry and commerce in Georgetown, the country’s capital on the Atlantic Coast, that now is the time to strive outwards and sensibly blend its sporting thrust with tourism development. He recommends the establishment of a Sports Tourism Unit within the Ministry of Tourism.
In his view, visiting teams taken on scenic tours are more likely to be thrilled by the beauty of this large country and the uniqueness of its history which served to shape its present, moreso than the games they won or lost.
The magnificence of Kaieteur Falls, the world’s highest single drop falls, astounds those lucky enough to behold it but Guyana has hundreds of waterfalls of varying sizes. What some of its Caribbean Community partners refer to as rivers, Guyanese know merely as trenches. The forests are replete with various animals, some quite large, many of South America’s most colorful birds, and numerous rare species of birds and frogs.
When Guyana begins to list its mineral, animal and forestry resources and the large fish stocks in its many big rivers, regional visitors might tend to yawn, for they have heard much of it before; some of it from their forebears; for in times past, thousands of Barbadian, St. Lucian and other West Indians had gone to what was then British Guiana, to work at sugar cane harvesting with plantations on the Atlantic Coast and seeking fortunes from the gold and diamond fields in the expansive Hinterland, which also has in considerable quantities bauxite, tantalite, molybdenum, copper, zinc, many other minerals… with forestry, flowers and fish galore.
In an organized tour there could be much ground to cover, with extended roadways and attractive scenery on both sides. Many of Guyana’s roads can test the credulity of some visitors who have come from small territories and have not travelled elsewhere.
Foreign teams and other sports visitors taken on tours, will find history lessons in the names of many of the places either visited or passed through by road… and they will be fascinated, for their origins include Amerindian, English, Dutch, Portuguese, French, Spanish.
Here are just a few of the place names which prospective sports tourists will encounter.
Onderneeming, Abram’s Zuil, Columbia, Land of Plenty, La Belle Alliance, Hampton Court, Devonshire Castle, Paradise, Perth, Better Success, Better Hope, Maria’s Delight, New Amsterdam, Bachelor’s Adventure, Belle Plaine, Bank Hall, Maria’s Pleasure, Vreed-en-Hoop, Harlem, Windsor Forest, Edinburgh, Met-En-Meer-Zorg, Tuschen, Greenwich Park, Pouderoyen and hundreds of others, many of them equally quaint.
These just mentioned are only a few of the place names in Guyana’s three counties of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice… great natural wealth and prospects, that Mr. Perreira, a man of considerable action, has now set his sights. (Hubert Williams)

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