Guyana successfully participated at the British Bird Watching Fair on August 16-18 in Rutland, England, making it the ninth year the country has been attending the event dubbed the ‘international wildlife event of the year’ and the ‘world’s largest bird festival’.
Over 300 exhibitors from across the world took part in this massive event, which attracted over 25,000 visitors.
This year the British Bird Watching Fair, organised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Indranauth Haralsingh at a press briefing today, explained that previously Guyana participated through the Guyana Sustainable Tourism initiative which is a partnership between the GTA and USAID.
However, in recent years, the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) has managed to acquire the booth.
Guyana’s team included representatives from the GTA, Wilderness Explorers (which represented several local companies), Rupununi Trails and the Guyana High Commission in London.
According to Haralsingh, the overall response was very positive and bodes well for destination Guyana, whose booth was viewed by literally hundreds of patrons.
“The bird fair is one of the best forums for networking, negotiating, building sales leads, obtaining feedback on how we are doing as a bird watching destination. It is an important opportunity for us to learn about trends in bird watching and generally in terms of nature, adventure and wildlife,” Haralsingh said.
Guyana has more than 860 species of birds including some rare types such as harpy eagle, the sun parakeet, and the red siskin (which, at one point was believed to be extinct).
The GTA Head posited that birds alone did not pique the interest of those who visited the Guyana booth, as many patrons wanted to sample the famous El Dorado Rum. The booth was also used as the venue for several meetings with tour operators and potential visitors, and was a great forum and platform for networking.
