Tourism Minister reminds PPP that Crime escalated under its watch

Tourism Minister Cathy Hughes on Wednesday unveiled massive plans for tourism development in Guyana but bemoaned the debilitating impact crime is having on the country, its people and the potential of the country’s tourism product. 

She said if the crime situation were to continue along the path it is on, that would be a tragedy but she believes the new government will be able to arrest the situation.

The PPP has been calling on the government to effectively tackle the crime problem as the murder rate in the country continues to climb despite a reduction in cases of robbery.

Minister Hughes said “it is difficult to talk of increasing visitor arrival without mentioning the debilitating impact crime is having on our country, its people, and the potential our tourism product. This is a tragedy that we must fix and I am confident that this government will fix it with the plans we have, our acceptance of assistance from our international partners who are skilled in this area, assistance the last government refused and the support of the Guyanese people.”

Hughes reminded the National Assembly that crime escalated while the PPP was in power.

“It was under the former PPP/C administration that crime escalated, drugs started leaving Guyana in every conceivable way and we became a trans shipment port, and a long list of friends of the last administration who operated businesses supported by the last government, have been implicated, charged and in some cases convicted in a range illegal activities in international courts.”

Much to the rejection of the opposition,  Hughes also pointed out that a long list of friends of the last administration who operated businesses, supported by the last government, have been implicated, charged and in some cases convicted in a range illegal activities in international courts.

“The saying goes….show me your company and I’ll tell you who you are!”

She believes the former administration’s approach to crime was indicative of the lack of will that it portrayed in solving the issue.

She announced the crafting and subsequent implementation of a new National Tourism Strategy and said it is regrettable that after close to 23 years in government, the former People’s Progressive Party administration did not see the need for such a policy to guide tourism development.

The Minister explained that the new policy will address tourism constraints and challenges in Guyana along with legislation and regulation on tourism investment and incentives.

The Tourism Minister also announced the use of tourism satellite accounting in the near future to capture the real contribution the tourism industry can and is making to Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Georgetown’s Coast (Photo by Keron Bruce)

This will in turn help the ministry to formulate its five-year strategic plan, Hughes explained.

She also touted more effective marketing of Guyana as a tourism destination and believes budget 2015 delivers on the promise to provide more funds to market destination Guyana.

Before, the tourism ministry was lumped with that of commerce and trade, but Hughes said that this new and separate Ministry with responsibility for consumer protection will allow the sector to grow.

She also acknowledged the increase in allocations in the 2015 budget for the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) and said “tourism is poised to deliver to nation the 2015 budget theme; it is poised to provide the good life given importance of tourism and its ability to attract foreign investment and create jobs”.

The Minister’s hopes are high for the sector and she said she is particularly pleased with the incentives to be given to the locally run hotels, similarly to those enjoyed by the Marriott Hotel.

She reiterated the government’s commitment to establishing the hospitality institute and said work will be done with the private sector to ensure that the Ministry of Tourism accomplishes its goals. (Kurt Campbell)