CAC Fitness Expo launched
… Ministries of Tourism and Sport pledge support
By Leeron Brumell
Guyana Chronicle
April 30, 2004
AS preparations are moving apace to ensure the successful staging of the 32nd Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Bodybuilding Championships, the local federation has launched Fitness Expo, while the ministries of Tourism and Culture, Youth and Sport have reiterated their promise for support of the event.
The Guyana Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (GABBFF) on Wednesday night opened the floor for bids to set up booths for the event that will run simultaneously with the championship.
Fitness Expo according to the head of the CAC planning committee, Donald Sinclair, is a major marketing opportunity for all Guyana.
It is an event in which local companies, in some way or other connected to sports, whether it is in products or services, showcase their items over a period of three days.
A total of 20 spots are available for rental in the main lobbies on the upper and lower floors and the west wing of the National Cultural Centre (NCC) where the event will be staged.
Prices for booths range from $8 000 to $20 000 with the patio of the venue carrying a higher bid.
Sinclair said the federation is looking for a company that can offer class, elegance, style and comfort to the public. He said the ‘luckiest’ company to acquire the spot could display as many products as they desire, bearing in mind that protection must also be provided from the weather.
Five booths will be situated in the downstairs lobby, seven in the upstairs lobby and eight in the west wing.
Minister of Tourism Manzoor Nadir congratulated the federation for their hard work and planning thus far and said it is a lesson from which all Guyana can benefit.
“If there is one lesson from CAC 2004 to our own people is that if you are serious about marketing Guyana for tourism, we have to get serious about planning for the longer period and unless we do this we will have no serious tourism product to market.”
Director of Sports Neil Kumar on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the National Sports Commission (NSC) said that the government intends to honour its commitment of some $3.5 M towards the championships that will see participation from athletes from some 37 other countries.
Kumar said that Minister Gail Teixeira, from the launching of the event in 2001, had pledged support and he is proud that the government will be making good on that promise.
Apart from the cash donation the Sport Ministry will be standing the expenses of the venue, transportation and security among other things, and Kumar also expressed his pleasure at the hard work by the federation.
Also speaking at the launching of the event at the Georgetown Club were Director of Go-Invest, Geoffrey Da Silva, and president of GABBFF Yale Holder.