President to host tourism marketing awareness seminar in US
Georgetown, GINA, April 17, 2012
Chief Forecaster of One Caribbean Weather with President Donald Ramotar and First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar during a reception at State House for delegates of the 13th Sustainable Tourism Conference
President Donald Ramotar intends to supplement the reputation and acclaim which Guyana earned for its unique sustainable product when he hosts an extensive marketing awareness seminar in the United States of America.
The initiative which will target tourism operators, media and specialists is part fulfillment of the Guyana Government’s commitment to the promotion of investment and expansion opportunities.
The Head of State made the announcement to delegates of the 13th Sustainable Tourism Conference who gathered on the lawns of State House this evening for a reception after returning from their eye-opening excursions to various parts of Guyana.
President Donald Ramotar addressing delegates of the 13th Sustainable Tourism Conference during a reception at State House
The conference which Guyana is hosting for the second time attracted over 30 international media organisations and over 12 international speakers who president Ramotar urged should use the occasion to rethink approach, embrace new strategies and seek new vistas in tourism development.
“If this conference has stimulated ideas on the way forward for sustainable tourism development then I believe that it would have been an immeasurable success because great achievements originate with great ideas,” President Ramotar said.
Guyana is proudly hosting the conference, touting its cultural diversity, immense natural resources including 40 million acres of pristine rainforests as a model for managing precious resources and bringing equilibrium between tourism and sustainable development.
President Donald Ramotar presents a book of pictorial images of the Rupununi to Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation, Hugh Riley during a reception at State House for delegates of the 13th Sustainable Tourism Conference
The distinctiveness of the country’s tourism product from the sand and sea found in the rest of the Caribbean has increased Guyana’s knowledge about the development of sustainable tourism.
President Ramotar told the gathering of visitors that Guyana has acknowledged the overarching responsibility to promote economic growth through effective environmental stewardship.
Reference was made to the country’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) which seeks to align economic prosperity with the maintenance of sound environmental practices.
The model is the brainchild of former President Bharrat Jagdeo’s Initiative on Avoided Deforestation.
He shared the Guyana Government’s vision of promoting community based tourism through the support of measures that strengthen and expand community involvement in the development of the country’s tourism product.
His visit to Kumu Falls in the Kanuku Mountains of the Rupununi recently and the prospects for further developing the location to attract tourists was shared with the guests.
Last year the Surama eco lodge village in the Rupununi won the Excellence in Sustainable Tourism award jointly with Barbados. Surama is now a model based tourism project and the villagers, have been playing an integral role in perpetuating the status of the location.
