The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) in collaboration with the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) and Target Euro on Tuesday launched the official Tourism Product Development Playbook.
The playbook outlines guidelines that provide a structured approach to developing tourism products that appeal to visitors and respect the country’s environment, culture, and heritage. It emphasises sustainable practices, community engagement, and experiential learning, positioning Guyana as a leader in responsible tourism.
The playbook was derived after the GTA and THAG were awarded a Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility (CCPF) grant to accelerate the development of the tourism circuit in the Essequibo region of Guyana.
This project comprises two parts – one focuses on creating a governance structure for the Regional Tourism Committees across the ten administrative regions in Guyana and the second forms the basis of Tuesday’s launch – a Tourism Product Development Playbook.
This comprehensive manual highlights the full processes and steps of product development, not just in the Essequibo region but countrywide.
It involves phase one – identifying the tourism potential of the proposed product, phase two – conducting a market readiness assessment, phase three – building the actual tourism product, and finally, phase four – launching the product.
During his feature remarks at the launching ceremony, Director of GTA, Kamrul Baksh, emphasised that the manual is part of a much bigger picture of the Guyana Tourism Authority and the Tourism, Industry & Commerce Ministry.
“The GTA and the Ministry, in their quest to develop new products, recently launched the Guyana Tourism Product Development Grant programme, which saw a number of new product ideas being proposed. We have received in excess of 10 new interesting and diverse experiences across the regions, including mountain biking, kayaking, and community tours. This playbook will go hand in hand and play a very complimentary role with the grant for the operators who wish to put together these experiences. They will be privy to a detailed guide and financial resources from the Government to ensure their products are feasible. I think those are two very important aspects of making this all possible,” Baksh expressed.
In addition, he stated that the GTA wants to ensure that the booklets get into the hands of passionate people and more so those who want to develop the products.
“Additionally, in the coming weeks, we will launch the Community Tourism Guide and Entrepreneurial Programme, where we aim to create a community of guides, outfitters, and experiential providers who can take the booklet and develop these experiences within all of the regions. We want to fully unlock the potential of tourism in Guyana across all regions.”
Also delivering remarks at the event were President of THAG, Omadelle George; Country Rep, Inter-American Development Bank, Lorena Salazar; Head of Mission, Canadian High Commission, Mark Berman and British High Commissioner Jane Miller.
Target Euro Representatives, Santiago Soler and Brian Mullis were also present and guided attendees through a thorough presentation of the playbook and the key areas of managing tourism development in the Essequibo region.
