Guyana set to host major Sustainable Tourism Conference in April – Guyana Chronicle
Guyana to benefit big from CTO conference – Guyana Times
Guyana ready for 13th annual sustainable tourism conference-cto
Ministry, private sector working on tourism packages to encourage the Diaspora
CTO officials pleased with Guyana’s preparations for 13th Sustainable Tourism conference
Georgetown, GINA, January 18, 2012
Guyana is well advanced in its preparations for the hosting of the 13th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development which will be held from April 15-18 at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC).
This was revealed by CTO’s Sustainable Tourism Product Specialist and Communications Specialist Gail Henry and Jonhson Johnrose respectively, during a press briefing today at the Ministry of Housing and Water. “We are quite happy with what we have seen thus far and as such, the CTO will continue its planning for the mega event,” Henry said.
According to the Sustainable Tourism Product Specialist, the conference is expected to bring direct benefits to promote Guyana as it possesses vast, unique prime attractions which always seem to ‘wow’ visitors. Visitor arrivals have seen a 5 percent increase over the 2010 figure.
The conference will also feature workshops, panel discussions, study tours, awards and speak-out sessions. Surama Eco-Lodge received an award last year, and while prime attraction destinations will again be judged for their natural beauty, the awards have since been expanded to include accommodation, community benefit, heritage protection and bio-diversity conservation.
“It is going to be an interesting conference as we will also be bringing in experts not only in tourism, but other areas which will help delegates attending to learn quite a lot,” Henry said.
To further promote the country’s tourism products, much work is being done by Government in partnership with several private sector bodies to develop different areas of tourism to attract tourists to Guyana’s shores. According to Tourism Minister (ag) Irfaan Ali, the Tourism Ministry in conjunction with the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), has been looking at measures to advance the vision of the sector. “If we integrate what we offer, with what the rest of the Caribbean offers then it offers us as a region, a better opportunity to do more target marketing,” he said.
Government is also working collectively to ensure wider collaboration with the private sector, as plans are apace for the development of a five-day tourism tour
package targeting Guyanese from the Diaspora.