With major events like the ICC T20 World Cup semi-finals on June 27th and a packed schedule of events ahead, Guyana’s tourism industry has a crucial opportunity to shine by emphasising accessibility and exceptional service.
Minister of Tourism, Industry, and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond, reinforced this message during a meeting with business operators and other stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality industry at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Tuesday.
She highlighted that as Guyana’s economy experiences rapid growth, traditional travel patterns have evolved. Distinct travel seasons are giving way to more consistent periods of high visitor numbers.
“We no longer have ‘travel seasons.’ Every single month is an opportunity to entertain visitors,” she stressed.
As a result, seamless visitor experiences require advanced collaboration between different parts of the tourism and hospitality industry.
The minister explained the importance of streamlined coordination among hotels, taxi services, tour operators, and restaurants. This would enable all service providers to effectively market their offerings, while creating a wider range of options for visitors.
“We all can work together to make sure that we capture the attention of these visitors. We will soon be hosting the Caribbean Investment Forum, and that is going to bring about 40 countries here…and those people should be able to have easy access or information about tours. So, having that integration with the hotels, and the taxi drivers,” she said.
Moreover, Minister Walrond underscored the significance of the ICC games being held here as a direct reflection of Guyana’s emergence as a key player in the global tourism industry.
While the government has been taking the necessary steps to promote Destination Guyana, Minister Walrond said that the most effective marketing mechanism is word of mouth.
Hence, she urged attendees to showcase the best service and products that Guyana has to offer.
“Showcase the best of our people, the best of our hospitality, the best of our service at this time. This is a great opportunity for us to use word of mouth marketing because we have a lot of first time visitors here,” she encouraged.
Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Kamrul Baksh, said that to advance this integration agenda, the agency will soon host a networking session to facilitate cross-promotion.
“We do plan, at least within the next two weeks, to roll out a session, not only for networking, but we have some service solutions that we want to sensitise the members on,” he said. [Extracted and Modified from DPI]
