Tourism authority upbeat on results of marketing efforts
By Jaime Hall
Guyana Chronicle
April 22, 2004
THE Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) is upbeat about the results of its marketing efforts so far in promoting Guyana as a budding tourist destination.
It has reported a 21.4 per cent increase in the number of foreign visitors arriving here during the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year.
In fact, this increase in the number of foreign visitors coming here has been the trend over the past two years, but began to be more pronounced in early September last continuing until now, GTA Executive Director, Mr. Donald Sinclair told the Chronicle.
Figures compiled by the authority for this year so far show that up to the end of March, there were 23,860 visitors to Guyana. During this same period last year the number reported was 19,405.
And this has to do with the efforts of the authority in collaboration with the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) as well as the Ministry of Tourism in promoting Guyana overseas, Sinclair noted in an interview Tuesday.
One of the new highlights for tourism in Guyana is luxury cruise liners coming here, and already there are indications that there will be an increase in the number of these vessels bringing tourists to Guyana, not traditionally a destination for cruise liners.
On Monday, a second cruise liner arrived here for the year.
On board the MS Hanseatic were more than 160 foreign visitors.
In March, the Minervia ll docked at the John Fernandes wharf with more than 530 tourists.
Sinclair said marketing efforts have been stepped up and more financial and human resources are being allocated to further promote tourism.
Part of these efforts are familiarisation trips organised either by GTA or THAG, involving Caribbean media and Canadian and North American tour operators to highlight what Guyana has to offer to the outside world.
Given the current trend of foreign visitors to Guyana, Sinclair said the authority can only expect this to continue growing because of the marketing efforts it has been making.
During November last, Guyana was represented at the World Travel Market Trade Fair in London and the International Trade Fair in Berlin also during last year.
The representatives included local tour operators and government officials.
At these trade fairs, local tour operators who attend would build on contacts established in previous years, Sinclair pointed out.
He said that from a GTA and Ministry of Tourism standpoint the presence of the operators at these trade fairs would serve to enhance the image of Guyana overseas.
Sinclair noted that Guyana in recent years has been getting a lot of "negative press" and this has resulted in the travel advisories issued by some governments about the risks and dangers involved in coming to this country.
And from a marketing standpoint, GTA's main challenge now is to make visitors feel more comfortable coming here by making them become aware that there is a lot more to Guyana than the negative stories peddled, he said.
Locally, Sinclair said the GTA would have to take on the task of influencing those agencies responsible for fighting crime to keep it at a level that would cause the least discomfort and anxiety to the local population and foreign visitors.
The authority would be looking too at committing resources to counter negative publicity reaching foreign populations, he said.