Election tension hasn't affected Guyana’s tourism sector-GTA

The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) to two articles published in the Kaieteur Newspapers on December 11 and 12, under the captions ‘Election tension adversely affects Guyana’s tourism sector’ and ‘Money Govt. invests in tourism sector miniscule’, stating that the first is misleading and that government’s investments in tourism is growing.
Head of the GTA, Indranauth Haralsingh stated that the views expressed by Kit Nascimento in the articles are not representative of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) nor the private sector in the tourism industry and that Nascimento is not a spokesperson of THAG, as this was confirmed by the organisation.
Singh said that the claim that ‘election tension adversely affects Guyana’s tourism’ is inaccurate and misleading, and paints a negative and dismal picture of tourism in Guyana. He stressed that there is no ‘de-stabilisation’ in Guyana as a result of the street protests; however whist there may have been a few cancellations at hotels and resorts, visitor arrivals to Guyana continue to increase.
Singh pointed out that in November, arrivals increased by 2.4 percent when compared to the same period in 2010 while year to date arrivals recorded a 1 percent increase. He emphasised that 2010 was a record year with a documented 152,000 arrivals. “We are very optimistic that arrivals for December will surpass that of 2010,” Singh said.
He pointed out that airlift and seat capacity to Guyana will almost double as of December 15 since REDjet will now have two flights daily and one on Thursdays, Delta Airlines will be flying to Guyana daily and Caribbean Airlines is also expected to expected to increase its flights to Guyana. EZjet a new carrier will be commencing flights, direct from New York, on December 15.
“It is clear that more visitors are coming to Guyana, why they are not going to certain resorts and hotels is a question for the private sector operators… they need to examine their cost structure and price competitiveness, and the effectiveness and efficiency of their marking and promotional activities,” Singh said.
He emphasised that Guyana is more perceived as an expensive destination than a dangerous one with the country’s brand and image significantly improving via awareness through the Low Carbon Development Strategy, films, documentaries, travel features, familiarization trips, and participation in travel trade shows.