Talking to this bannaz is like water on duck's back. All Rev could do is post pikchas and write cliches that make you wonder. The eco-tourism industries in Costa Rica and elsewhere did not have doers working hard with Patience, Persistence and Perspiration. They just did it - by planning and execution.
So here's a Rev-ism:
PLANNING + EXECUTION > PATIENCE + PERSISTENCE + PERSPIRATION.
Correct. Guyana has been getting some publicity on BBC, Animal Planet, etc.
So imagine that I am an affluent nature loving American earning more than $300K/year. Not interested in the normal vacation spots. Want to try something new. So I can boast about a trip to a mysterious unknown country when I return to the country club [I will leave my wife in Barbados where she can sun, spa and shop to her hearts delight].
Read up that the Guyanas (Guyana and Suriname) are among the most ethnically diverse nations on this planet....especially when combined as you get Javanese and Maroons in addition to Guyana's sizeable Amerindian population). Am also intrigued by the fact that because these two nations have very empty ingterior locations the animals are among the largest of their species. Got excited by the program on PBS (Nature) which focused 100% on Diana McTurk's otters. So I decided to go.
Hmmmm. I went to my eco/adventure travel agent. They immediately suggested Belize, Brazil (Amazon), Costa Rica, Panama. Why I asked them? Response was that Guyana has no packages consolidating accommodation, airfares (international and domestic), and tours that are bookable upfront. That one must stitch together an itinerary when one gets to Guyana. That because of its poor infrastructure weather severely impacts travel to the interior, and that because Guyana has very few eco tourists, the local operators rely on miners, therefore flights can be canceled at the last minute, or diverted.
So off I go to Nicaragua (the least known of the eco/adventure destinations in the Americas. Why? Because I can easily get info, book packages and be sure that the local operators wouldnt screw up. The last thing I want is to be confined to Gtown (nothing to do after 3 days) and then find that I cannot get into or out of the interior...that local service providers (white water rafters, etc) are not certified and there are no safety standards or monitoring. And that minutes before I board a flight (after 4 days of trying to get one), a call comes in diverting the plane to some gold mine because the operator can make more cash then transporting a lone tourist to see McTurk, or spend a day or two at Iworkrama.
This is what the PPP should focus on. Not building another hotel in Gtwn when those which exist are struggling. Let private investors assume 100% of the risk of Marriott. If they wish to subsidized then they should do so for the operators who struggle to make money flying tourists to the intyerior because there are so few of them [How many overseas Guyanese do you know who go to the Rupununi, aside from those who have business interests there?]