Govt has to help make Guyana's tourism industry competitive -TAG President By Miranda La Rose Stabroek News September 9, 1998 The main problem facing tourism is to convince the nation that a thriving industry will have an immediate positive effect on the livelihood of all Guyanese, President of the Tourism Association of Guyana (TAG), Shaun McGrath, says. Government, local and regional authorities and the media, are areas which need to be addressed in terms of tourism awareness before any successful campaign can be brought to the general public, he said. McGrath spoke at an introduction and orientation meeting of members of the National Working Group on the Organisation of American States (OAS)-sponsored Caribbean Tourism Awareness project, at the Ocean View International Hotel at Liliendaal, yesterday. He said that because Guyana has the potential and the tourism product available to make the industry a viable one and people think otherwise, there is great need for the tourism awareness programme. In spite of promoting tourism awareness through the media, McGrath said that "if we cannot convince our decision and policy makers, those who control our cities and towns (and) public opinion, that a thriving tourism industry can benefit every (Guyanese), we are wasting our time with our children and the average citizen." Speaking of government awareness, McGrath said that since tourism is an all inclusive industry and cannot be developed by one section of society or person alone, it needs the assistance of government which needs to be aware that "we are competing in a truly global market. We are in competition with every other country in the world, bar none, for the tourist dollar". He said that while "we need to make the outside world aware that we exist... government has to be aware of what other countries are doing to develop their industries and take the necessary steps to make Guyana competitive". If Guyana is to attract the necessary investment, government has to review its incentive regime, spend money marketing the country, get additional airlift and gateways and solve the land lease problems encountered regularly. Government too, he said, has to tell the nation what tourism contributes to the economy. A blanket statement that tourism will grow at 3.5 per cent this year is meaningless if there is no starting point from which to measure growth. To deal with the problem of littering facing Georgetown, other municipalities and local authorities, McGrath said that there are laws that prohibit the dumping of garbage on streets but the laws are only good as "(their) enforcement". Calling on the authorities to implement existing laws, he said that "if these laws are implemented without fear or favour and people are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, there will be dramatic improvement in people's attitudes to littering and hence the cleanliness of the country". He added that "this will have an immediate positive effect on the way Guyanese and tourists will look at Guyana". In relation to media awareness, McGrath said that there is need to make people aware, "especially those involved in all forms of the media, that the impact of their reporting can damage the efforts being made to develop the industry". While it is important to report what is happening, he said that "it is irresponsible journalism to paint a picture of events showing them to be worse than they actually are, just to have a dramatic headline". He noted that as part of the role of the media in developing the industry, the Stabroek News and the Chronicle in the past week have put a link from their home pages to that of TAG's. Also addressing the invitees and members of the Working Group, were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry Tarchan Ramgulam, OAS Director, Michael Wyllie, Regional Coordinator of the Caribbean Tourism Awareness Project, Jasmine Garraway and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry, Michael Shree Chan, whose presentation was read by Ramgulam.