South America Online

…positive projections for tourism sector

PRESIDENT of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Mitra Ramkumar, has deemed Tourism Awareness month 2020 a success, pointing out the possibility for the sector to “bounce back” to normalcy in a short time.
Ramkumar, during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, stated that even while the COVID-19 pandemic has put a halt to some of the major tourism events for the year, the support during November was tremendous.

“A lot of persons look at tourism as a luxury; it is not. It is a necessity, it is what the doctor ordered, and so if you were to look at it from that perspective, you would understand that this is an essential part of life, just like you have annual vacation, it is essential that you take a break, relax, rejuvenate and come again,” said Ramkumar.
He added that THAG does not believe that a continued lockdown of the tourism sector is sustainable, but noted that the focus needs to be on making sure there are safe spaces for people.
“In the pandemic, tourism in Guyana stood out because we have wide open spaces, all of our lodges have fresh air, it’s not locked, it’s not air conditioned and a lot of times when we go, none of these places are overrun.

So you don’t have a lot of people at one location at one time. So one of our strengths is that we don’t have mixing of people. If you go as a family, then it’s you alone there. So, Guyana as a destination has tremendous strengths,” Ramkumar explained.
According to Ramkumar, domestic tourism should be the main focus for local tourism businesses.
“I believe what we should focus on is domestic tourism and tourism for the persons who are already in the country. I am talking about the expats, the business travellers; we have a huge amount of those persons in the country because of the oil and gas sector and we need to capitalise on that; we are going to continue to put measures in place for safety just like Guyana Restaurant Week,” Ramkumar said.

He said THAG has made an appeal to the government and the COVID-19 task force to give the tourism body some level of freedom to operate.
“We have been locked down now for too long; every other business has been allowed to operate within the guidelines of the official gazette and that’s all we are asking for, for us to operate with those same protocols and guidelines and we are actually going to exceed those guidelines by ensuring that within our standard operation guidelines, we have hygiene and sanitation protocols imbedded in them. So we are not reckless and we understand the importance of safety and that is always our watchword and our key word,” said the THAG President.

He said THAG is looking to host several events as part of its “Guyanese Christmas experience”, with the main event being the Christmas brunch.
The event will feature several signature Christmas dishes including Pepperpot and bread, black cake and all of the usual meals that are featured at Christmas time. The event, he said, is set to target those Guyanese who are returning home for the season.