Birding tour operators to offer Guyana trips
Stabroek News
December 9, 2006
A group of international birding tour operators who recently visited are convinced that "Guyana has a fantastic wilderness" and according to them they had a wonderful time.
Overall, all participants of the familiarisation trip were impressed with Guyana as a birding destination and every one of them said that their respective companies will begin offering tours to Guyana in 2008, with some looking to bring smaller groups as early as next year.
The UK team was here on a trip from November 17 to 26 as part of the birding tourism programme, a partnership between the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and the USAID Guyana Trade and Investment Support (GTIS) project.
A release from the birding tourism programme quoted a member of the team, Tim, as saying that, "Guyana has a potential to develop a bird watching and wildlife business. We've been to most parts of the world between us ... and I can tell you that Guyana stands up well in comparison with other places."
The team also said that Guyana has a distinct advantage over its South American competitors, in that it is an English-speaking country and is much easier to access in regard to flights and travel time, particularly for the North American and European markets.
They said too that there are a lot of interesting birds in Guyana.
"We didn't see them all but we saw a fair proportion of them (376 different species) in the ten days that we've been here, and that is a very high scorer," another team member said.
The team has recommended that Guyana protect its wilderness, improve its accommodation and transport and ensure that prices are competitive.
"People visiting countries like to go to National Parks. They like to feel that the country they are visiting thinks enough about its habitat and environment to protect it and Guyana could do with some national parks. . . they are big magnets," the bird watching team proposed.
Some of the places toured by the team included the Botanical Gardens, Arrow Point, Kaieteur Falls, Karanambo Ranch and Surama Village.