Yea, without Stormborn around, that Caribj guy is a decent guy.

Few young Guyanese are interested in planting tomatoes etc. these days...

If we can attract tourists to Lakeside Resorts it might be a better venture...and a great way of employing young people who are not interested in farming (even with modern equipment).
 

Guyana does have SOME tourism potential however we will never be a Jamaica generating 2 million stay over visitors a year, or even St Maarten with 500,000.  Maybe we might be like St Kitts Nevis or Grenada with 100,000 non local visitors.

Our attractions are eco/adventure and huge crowds at Kaieteur Falls or in the Rupununi or the Mazuruni or even the North West District will be a huge disaster.

Our target are the types who want to visit some where new, and want to have an active vacation.  Guyana....the Caribbean Amazon....which is how they now try to promote themselves becomes a good plan.   The multicultural environment of the south east Caribbean (T&T/GY/SUR) combined with all the eco advnture that the Amazon offers and in English (or some derivative of it).

A client of mine from the Dom Rep keeps on asking me about visiting Guyana.  He has a hard time trying to understand when I tell him that our white sand is in the interior and not the coast which is pure mud.

I know he is quite busy and vacations to relax in a resort so I tell him that when his sons are old enough for them to do a "mancation" hiking, fishing, water rafting, etc then Guyana will be a god bet.  That is if he is into that sort of thing...which I know his wife isnt.

I won't say that driving young people into prostitution for the pleasure of tourists is a good career path.

Don't derail this thread with your nonsense.  You should visit the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cancun etc. and see the family type resorts and the kind of tourists they attract.  The young people work as resort managers, bartenders, gym and aeorobics instructors, waiters/waitresses, perform in shows at the resorts(dancing/singing - entertaining families), tour guides etc.

That profession is a natural take off-even in backwood destinations.

Well I can agree with you on that.  As I have said BOTH sides have been guilty and BOTH sides have suffered.  I maintain that what we have in Guyana isnt societal racism with wide spread inter racial hatreds at the individual level.   There is way too much cultural exchange between the various groups, not only foods and music, but even values and mannerisms, and language.

What we have is inter ethnic FEAR.  The solution.  Develop a form of govt where every Guyanese feels included.  It will be amazing if this is done how quickly the inter racial animosity will disappear.  Most Guyanese know full well how disastrous full out race warfare will be.  And those over 50 certainly remember what the 60s were about, or have first hand conections to those who do.

Despite the attempts by radicals of BOTH sides, few Guyanese will relish another racial war as what we had in 1964.  The problem is that the current political system encourages the fight over real estate along with the fear that the losing side will be marginalized.  Indeed we have seen BOTH sides marginalized depending on who was in power...while ironically the grass roots of the "winning" side almost equally ignored.  Burnham used to laugh at poor black people and I feel confident that people like abert al;so laugh at poor rural Indians.

A first step will be reorganizing our local govt. We really ought to go back to the village system, with each village cluster sending a rep to the regional level.   But neither the PPP, nor the PNC will want this as it reduces their central power to dispense patronage as it suits their interests.

Great idea. Tribal Leaders will transform guyana's Economy. BRAVO!!! BRAVO!!!! BRILLANT INDEED!!!!

All good but we will fail if we fool ourselves into being another Jamaica.

We have a far more interesting cultural complex than most Guyanese gives themselves credit as having.  One of the first things that most foreigners note about Guyanese is not only the obvious diversity of our cultures, but the extent to which ALL of us to varying degrees, and in varying contexts carry within us ALL of these cultures.  I am willing to bet that some of the creolese words that non Indians use on a daily basis might be derived from some Hindi origin...pagalee being a word I have always been curious about and an Indian national did confirm a possible link.

Similarly Indians speak on a daily basis an adaptation of a creole language which developed in West Africa when various groups, which had trading ties with the British, had to develp some way of communicating between each otrher and with the British.  So pidgin English developed and that was transformed into Creole English among slaves in the Caribbean and North America.

Such things fascinate people.  So while we package our eco/adventure attractions we should also package our culture.  Gtwn already has quite a few unappreciated museums. 

Our architecture, while unappreciated by people in Guyana who prefer some concrete monstrosities, is unique and ought to be preserved. Even if in a modernized form, given the complex fretwork cant be replicated these days as the skills no longer exist. Just take a walk down from Pegasus to the Parliament buildings and then on to Stabroek Market.  Stabroek Market itself is amazing (you have to have lievd outside of Guyanafor a long time to see this).  Clean it up, make the area less congested and safer and its a major attraction.  Between the gold and the fruits and the boats arriving with produce and the river!!

Cleaniness and safety will have to receive high priority in Gtwn aqs well as customer service.

Most who work in tourism are people with limited skills and education and, unlike mining, it provides a relaxed lifestyle.

Many opportunities exist except that the PPP is too backward.  Pity its the AFC seem to be the ones with these ideas, but will remain to weak to implement them.

Well the PPP on its own clearly isnt transforming anything.

You would be surprised.  Besides, if done properly and with good market access, it takes  few to create a lot.  As long as money is to be made, people will engage.  Maybe you ought to visit the Ebo farmers and see what they do and what the limiting factors are.

Do you know how many river and lake-side resort there is in Guyana, quite alot, I've been to a few.  Problem is the half-life is short and there is little foreign interest except for overnight stays to visit Keiteur, etc.  As soon as a new one opens up, it drains away from the others.  Eco tourism is for the hardy folks, not the profile of the vast majority of foreign tourists.

The resorts fail, not because the potential isnt there (Belize and Costa Rica and even Suriname have had more success), but we havent developed the package and our promotion is non existent.  We need to look and see how the Jamaicans have developed BRAND Jamaica and take what is relevant.

There are enough hardy folks who want eco/adventure.  Many young affluents find lying down on a beach or playing golf all day to be a huge snore.  Also its not just that, although this will be the biggest draw, but also our cultural and heritage attractions, once they become appreciated by Guyanese and developed fully. 

Gtwn, if cleaned up, is an attractive city.  Indeed prior to its deterioration in the mid 70s it was very favorably viewed by non Guyanese and was considered the prettiest capital in the English speaking Caribbean.

Remember it isnt that tourism will be Guyana's largest industry, or that we will aim to get more than 100k visitors.

Enough people have asked me about Guyana, and basic questions at that, for me to know that if Guyana develops a proper product and promotes itself there is some potential.'

This isnt an either/or.  Agriculture for CARICOM and developing a toursi industry for 50-100k are both possible.

What tourism offers are jobs for the less skilled urban dwellers who will NEVER be involved in farming, however much you insist that they ought to be.

Okay folks, so far we have:

• Producing Vegetables  and exporting to neighboring countries.
• Expansion in tourism
• Producing coffee and tea in the areas that this can be done

What other ideas do we have to boost the economy? 

So many of you braniacs think you know what is best for Guyana, that is when you ran out of the country and didn't participate in its development. Now the likes of CaribJ and others believe they have the solution and every downfall is the PPP's fault. 

I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said after you stayed up all night and took all day to come up with your brain fart.

Let's hear suggestions from other people...

You know what makes me laugh.  Hear you are castigating us for not living in Guyana.

Do you?

I mean you live outside of Guyana and offer the opinion that the PPP's use of criminals to ensure it retains power is good.