Tourism pioneer Jardim awarded
Stabroek News
June 6, 2002
National winner of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) fiftieth anniversary award, Joanne Jardim, feels that Guyanese children need to be educated about the economic and social benefits tourism has to offer the country.
At a press briefing held at her home in D'Aguiar's Park on Tuesday to showcase her gold medal for pioneering the local tourism industry, Jardim said that she was overwhelmed because she never thought that her efforts would have been recognised regionally or internationally.
Jardim was among national winners of the CTO 33 member countries who were awarded for their outstanding contribution to the tourism industry in their countries in different ways. She was chosen from a field of local candidates. The selection was done by the government and the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG).
THAG's Executive Director, Indira Anandjit, told Stabroek News that Jardim was selected not only because of the Shanklands resort but because of her all-round contribution in terms of pioneering the industry and the interest she takes in sustainable tourism and education and awareness.
Jardim's efforts began 20 years ago when she and her husband, Max, decided to develop a 90-acre plot of land she had inherited from her father. She said that she had been at home and suggested to her husband that she should get a job or go crazy. He asked her "why not go in the bush and develop your father's land?"
She took up the challenge and lived under a tarpaulin initially, while supervising the clearing of the land and making sure that certain trees were not cut down. She was determined in her efforts and even learnt how to make charcoal to sell to pay the workmen she had hired.
She said that people "called me a mad white woman" but she was glad that after 20 years the resort she had built could be an example for others. "It has happened and I want to put it out to young Guyanese that we can do it in our own country."
Stressing the importance of tourism to a country's economy, she contended that Jamaica and Barbados would not be the countries they are without tourism. While those countries may boast white sand beaches and blue water, she said, Guyana had new experiences - rivers, waterfalls and rainforests.
Over the years, too, she noted tourism beginning to take root and was satisfied that the policy and decision-makers were paying heed to the industry.
Initially, when Shanklands began as a holiday resort, she said it was with "Guyanese in mind." Today, she said, she was proud that Shanklands not only attracted locals but foreign visitors as well.
Shanklands, one of the first resorts built on the Essequibo River is set on 15 acres of rolling lawns surrounded by virgin rainforest. With ten rooms, Shanklands offers tours to historical sites in the area, summer camps for children and special eco-bio-diversity and historical programmes for schools. The vegetation on the property includes 56 species of trees and is home to 210 varieties of birds, seven different types of monkeys and an abundance of other flora and fauna.
Jardim is a founding member of THAG and has received two awards - Best Interior Accommodation and Best Interior Cuisine - from one of the leading tour operator companies in Guyana. (Miranda La Rose)