Georgetown tourism conference likely to yield $66M
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Georgetown tourism conference likely to yield $66M
- Da Silva
Stabroek News
March 25, 2000
Government conservatively estimates returns in the vicinity of $66M from the upcoming Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) Fourth Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development billed for May 19 to May 22 in Georgetown.
And government will be spending "a few tens of millions of dollars" on the conference to be held at Le Meridien Pegasus because the investment should yield good returns, according to Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry, Geoffrey Da Silva.
At a press conference at Le Meridien Pegasus on Wednesday to launch a series of activities to promote the coming conference, Da Silva, in his remarks, said that the conference was probably the biggest event to date in the country's fledgling industry.
To make the most of it, he said, there were a number of plans to highlight the activity in the region and in Europe and North America. This would include visits by delegations to trade fairs and expositions in New York next week and to Trinidad and Tobago next month. A visit to the travel and leisure fair in Toronto was planned and another to the State of Roraima in Brazil next month.
Some 150 delegates from the 32 member countries of the CTO as well as associate members in Europe and North America are expected to attend the four-day event. Some 20 journalists specialising in tourism from the region and further afield are due to cover and take part in some of the events planned. The conference will be held under the theme, `Keeping the Right Balance - Unlocking the Potential'.
The conference will bring together regional and international tourism specialists, development experts from the cultural and entertainment industry, environmentalists, academics and members of the local tourism sector. All will share their experiences and offer solutions to problems in the development of sustainable tourism.
Present at the launching ceremony were Permanent Secretary in the Trade, Tourism and Industry ministry, Sonia Roopnauth, Director of Tourism in the ministry, Tessa Fraser, newly-elected President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Gerry Gouveia, a number of tour operators, hoteliers and area managers of airlines operating in the country.
According to Fraser, the theme had been chosen for the year 2000 conference to focus "not only on the region's demand for more action in developing regional products within sustainable tourism principles, but [also] the local situation."
Consequently, Guyana, she said, would be used as a case study and its current policies and programmes would be evaluated. A wide range of issues would be examined including investment in sustainable tourism, sustainable management of tourism facilities with emphasis on environmental and social considerations, public and private sector alliances and education and training.
Giving a background to this year's conference, Fraser said that at the first conference on sustainable tourism development held in Dominica, then Assistant Director of Tourism, Kenneth Bentick had put forward the suggestion that Guyana should host the third conference. However, government and the private sector said that the country would not have been ready and suggested the year 2000. The second conference was held in Trinidad and Tobago and the third in Suriname.
The sustainable tourism conference concept evolved out of the CTO's eco-tourism conferences, the first of which was held in Belize in 1991. After six conferences the CTO decided to broaden its focus towards the creation of a sustainable tourism industry in the Caribbean region. (Miranda La Rose)
