A woman rows her boat past Adel’s Tourists Resort as she makes her way further up a tributary creek of the Pomeroon River
As the tourism sector gracefully bounces back from the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, the government is pushing operators of destinations locally, to improve and enhance quality so that the tourism experience can be fulfilling both for locals and foreigners that would make them want to return.
The call was made by Minister of Tourism Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond who conducted a Safari/ familiarization visit to Region 2 over the weekend where she, along with members of the press, the ministry, and the Guyana Tourism Authority visited a number of tourist destinations within Essequibo.
“I saw a comment where one person said a public servant can’t really travel Guyana because they only make sixty-eight thousand dollars a month and to come on a trip is twenty thousand. I hasten to say that when people see the value then is when they will spend their money,” Minister Oneidge Walrond said over the weekend as she called on the operators to make their facility of a standard where people spending their monies to visit, will not have regrets.
She referenced the fact that persons would spend more than $30,000 to acquire a United States Visa and they do that because they see value in acquiring that piece of document.
“We find that Guyanese don’t really understand this precious product that we have here in Guyana called tourism” Minister Walrond noted
During the tour over the weekend, the minister and team visited Amanda’s Resort at Lake Capoey, Lake Mainstay, Tapakuma Lake and Adel’s Resort in the Pomeroon River.
Minister Walrond reminded that Guyana has a unique tourism product that if managed correctly, would do wonders for Guyana.
“So the media have to stress on the value… that is Guyana, and get familiar with the beauty and the goal that we (government) have. It is called tourism in Guyana… in all aspects… agro, eco, sports, culture. The rich diversity of our people is a selling product and when we go and speak of tourism in the foreign countries, the fact that we are so diverse, Diwali and all of these things are selling points for us and we need to appreciate this beautiful country” the minister stressed.
The minister noted that the pandemic has brought about some changes in how tourism is done around the world and also referenced the reality that tourism was one of the hardest-hit sectors by the pandemic.
It was pointed out that getting to some destinations will require additional infrastructural works and the Government is working along with the private sector and operators within the tourism sector to have those addressed.