Guyana’s international reputation continues to grow as evidenced by the increase in the number of tourist arrivals. For the first six months of 2017, tourist arrivals rose to 113,529 from 108,187 recorded in the similar period of 2016, primarily driven by growth in visits from Caribbean countries which accounted for 41.8 percent of arrivals. Arrivals for the first half peaked in April coinciding with the Easter Holidays.
This is according to the country’s mid-year Report which is produced by the Ministry of Finance.
While the promotion of eco-tourism remains priority for Guyana, the national commitment to diversification is vital for every sector, the Report highlights. As such it is outlined that, Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) is working towards the development of a new niche tourism product in the form of an action plan for educational and photography tourism. It is hoped that these would spur further niche-market, innovative, developments – a repeated element of the National Tourism Policy which is currently under review.
The Report notes too that Government will continue to promote reliable data as the basis for decision making across all sectors. To this end, work continues to progress on a Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) system will serve as a statistical framework and analytical tool to guide policy. This year, the GTA has collaborated with the Bureau of Statistics and Statistics Canada to detail a plan for the implementation of the TSA. In addition, to further improve the capacity of the tourism industry to better serve visitors, the GTA trained 619 individuals during the first half of 2017. Training covered areas such as customer service, tour-guiding, and first aid. By the end of the year, a cumulative total of over 1,000 persons will be trained.