Preliminary figures from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri show that a total of 41,573 persons stopped over in Guyana between January and May this year, as opposed to 33,731 in 2001.

Minister Nadir in an invited comment said that when the numbers from Moleson Creek and Lethem, the ports of entry to Guyana from Suriname and Brazil respectively, are added, the figure would be even higher.

He credited the increased stopover visits to the Ministry's continuous public awareness campaign and to Guyana's hosting of a number of regional and international conferences.

Nadir said that crime did not affect visitor arrivals because contrary to the perception of many, Guyana's crime rate has not skyrocketed. Rather, he said, it is the number of sophisticated and bold acts of criminal activity that have increased.

March saw 12,053 persons visiting Guyana representing the highest total for the five months and an increase of 89.1 per cent over the same month last year.

A total of 9,120 persons visited the country in April when Guyana hosted the Caribbean/UK Forum.

The combined number of visitors from Europe between January and May dropped from 3,565 in 2001 to 3,206 this year.

The Minister commented that Guyana is not well known in Europe and thus more advertising needs to be done.

Most of the visitors for the five months came from the United States and the Caribbean.