Promoting tourism
Editorial
On November 27 last the 'Main Big Lime,' advertised as a street fair and extravaganza, took place in Main street. The weather was kind, the tourist resort operators were out in force, the cultural performances were excellent, the craft stalls were well represented, the ubiquitous food and drink vendors were present en masse, and the crowds positively flocked the place. All in all, the 'Lime' was a popular success, and not a few people expressed the view that it should be mounted again next year. Score one for the Ministry of Trade and Tourism. The problem is, what did it all have to do with promoting local tourism? How many tourists, one wonders, came thronging the Cheddi Jagan airport en route to the 'Lime'? How many foreign tour operators arrived to assess what was on offer? How many enquiries about Guyana as a tourist destination did the Ministry receive from abroad following the extravaganza? Have the number of bookings to Guyana's tourist destinations suddenly burgeoned, by any chance, since November 27? If not through overseas tourism and travel agencies, by what mechanism exactly was the event intended to promote Guyana's tourism product? Let us get real, as the Americans say. Guyana's main tourism product which was promoted at the 'Lime' is a specialized one - Amazon tourism, Mr Richard Humphrey has called it. Its appeal will be to a niche market which is found largely in the developed nations, and not in Main street. In a low wage economy such as this one, most local Guyanese with the best will in the world simply cannot find the money to savour the eco-tourism experience up the Essequibo or anywhere else. If the Ministry of Trade and Tourism is prepared to sink money into a 'Lime' for the enjoyment of Guyanese, how much is it prepared to sink into doing the real work of tourism promotion in those countries from which the potential tourists are going to come? Based on recent evidence, the answer to that question is not very much. In our Friday edition we carried a news report about the administration's lack of support - financial and otherwise - for the World Travel Market (WTM) gathering in London last month. The WTM forum, an annual event, this year attracted the participation of 164 countries. Tourism ministers from various nations - including the Caribbean - normally attend, and there were huge numbers of visitors, mainly from the travel business. Despite the importance of the occasion in showcasing Guyana's tourist destinations, no government representative saw fit to put in an appearance and it fell to the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) to do what was necessary on its own. Furthermore, this year THAG received little support from the Guyana High Commission in London, either in terms of representation at the show, or in the form of assistance for transporting materials for the Guyana booth. That, however, is not all. Using their initiative, the members of THAG approached the Latin American Travel Association (LATA) to co-sponsor a reception the latter always holds during the WTM event. The invitations to this reception are normally much sought after, but LATA nevertheless agreed. (LATA is a London-based organization whose overall objective is to increase the number of visitors from Europe to Latin America.) The reception constituted a wonderful opportunity to sell Guyana to the travel agents, tour operators and representatives of international media houses who customarily put in an appearance there. According to THAG, the Government initially responded positively to its request for co-sponsorship of the LATA reception, and the invitations for the November 16 social gathering duly went out in July, as was the norm. Between July and November, however, the administration was overtaken by a fit of the 'dithers' complicated by a serious attack of misplaced parsimony, and seven days before the reception was due to be held, it could not confirm whether funding would be forthcoming or not. In the end, it came up with nothing. The sum involved was just US$2,500, and needless to say, THAG is now in debt to a London caterer because cancellation at the last minute was not an option, for reasons which are too obvious to require elaboration. In the meantime, other Latin American and Caribbean countries, taken off-guard by Guyana's bold move, are queuing up to co-sponsor future LATA receptions. The Government really needs to rethink its strategy on tourism, and start listening to the people who have experience in the field. It is the private sector engaged in tourism projects and its representative organization - THAG - which are in the best position to guide the administration as to what is required to develop and promote Guyana's product, and how the little moneyh available should best be spent. The country can ill afford to pass up opportunities such as those presented by the WTM show/meeting, not to mention the LATA reception. If the administration insists on refusing to take these promotional occasions seriously, then it will not only open itself to accusations of amateurism, but it might as well write off the nascent tourist industry altogether. Yes, let us have a 'Main Big Lime' next year if everyone wants it; but at the same time let us do the serious work necessary to assist in the development of tourism, so that we can reach a point where the industry will be able to make a meaningful contribution to the economy.
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