Tourism
Editorial
Stabroek News
April 15, 2007
Great hopes were held out for Cricket World Cup giving a fillip to the local tourist industry, although whether it did so or not is very difficult to assess. In any case, at the moment Guyana does not have a great deal on offer except the eco-tourist resorts, whose current capacity in terms of numbers is strictly limited. There is, however, the potential for so much more, but it would require substantial investment and above all else, a plan to develop the sector and the political commitment to follow it through. Furthermore, even where eco-tourism is concerned, the government would need to put its mind to how it will reconcile the competing claims on the land-space of the hinterland, and where its priorities are going to lie. It has never had a comprehensive interior policy which takes into account Amerindian, mining, forestry, tourism, conservation and security concerns, and which sets the guidelines for emphases in given areas and how clashes of interest should be approached.
Now that it appears as if the Takutu Bridge is about to become a reality and by extension, a paved Brazil road too, the administration could be in danger of losing control in the hinterland if it does not have an overarching framework in which to make 'development' decisions. Roads have a dynamic all their own, and in the case of the Brazilian Amazon they have notoriously brought destruction not development in their wake. In other words, they have the capacity (among other things) to annihilate the potential for eco-tourism completely, rather than facilitate it by providing access to the rainforest.
But it is not just a matter of how eco-tourism is to be accommodated within the grand scheme of things in the interior; it is also a question of how other forms of tourism can be developed on the coastland itself. Various pieces have been written on the tourism possibilities of the capital, the world's only plantation city. Certainly, in the wake of the efforts to make Georgetown presentable for the World Cup, one would hope at least that the maintenance exercises which so improved the urban environment will not be abandoned now that the cricket visitors have gone; there is nothing which turns tourists off faster than a rubbish-strewn city.
But clean streets are only one small part of the issue. Do the tourism authorities have any larger plan for attracting tourists to the capital? Are they considering schemes for the preservation of the material heritage in private and public hands, and how to promote any sites of interest? Among the first places tourists will visit in a town will be the museums. Leaving aside the National Gallery which is undoubtedly a success story, nobody has looked at revamping our museums in a long time. It will take money of course, which is probably why they have not attracted much attention from the administration. But if the Ministry of Culture in this case started out with a vision, then ways could be explored for finding the funding to bring the displays into the modern era. Tourism aside, they could also become important resources for schools.
And there are many other things which could be done along the coast. The one which comes immediately to mind is a 'sugar compound,' so to speak, with a furnished great house (or houses), logies, reconstructed primitive sugar mill (or mills), a reconstructed iron windmill (the shell of one still exists) a sugar 'museum' and interactive media displays and documentaries of life and work on a sugar plantation and in the factory during the different periods, etc, etc. There are any number of variations on this theme, such as siting the compound alongside a canal with sugar punts and so on. Sugar has played such an enormous part in the history of this country, that one wonders why no government has ever bothered even to set up a sugar museum, let alone something more ambitious than that.
There are all kinds of other possibilities too, such as media presentations on major historical events, like 1763, showing how the battles were fought, who the leaders were, where the events took place, etc, etc. Recently to its credit, the National Trust rehabilitated the Court of Policy on Fort Island, and set up a small museum there. This is unquestionably a move in the right direction, and perhaps at some point in the future this location could become the site for some kind of interactive display.
Developing tourism is not just a task for the Ministry of Tourism, since it impinges on the portfolios of several other ministries and could involve private agencies and companies as well. However, the Ministry of Tourism must be the one with the ideas for implementation in the first instance, and the co-ordinating body. The starting point, however, is simply a little imagination.