Guyana Tourism Authority
Guyana On Show Beginning with A Blast...Guyana to be featured at International Travel Shows early in 2013 ‘Adventure Life’ believes that travel should inspire, be authentic and it should reflect passion and personality. As they seek to showcase this, two representatives from Adventure Life, Ms. Julia Dimon and Mr. Matthew Rutherford have journeyed to Guyana for the first time, to capture the essence of the destination and to connect with the people. Dimon, a Travel Writer and TV Travel Host has visited more than 80 countries across the globe, and she will speak of her experiences in Guyana when she appears on the New York Times Travel Show, and LA Times Travel Show, in January and February respectively of this year. This venture was made possible through collaboration between the GTA and Wilderness Explorers, who will serve as the official Tour Guide of the visitors while they are in Guyana and with support from the management of Iwokrama, Surama and Rewa. From surviving the night in the forest to navigating the city streets, the duo was assured of an exciting, exhilarating experience as they begin their “Amazon Adventure”.
Ms. Dimon also secured a commitment from Outside TV (an extension of Outside Magazine) and the Travel Channel to feature the destination in addition to the promise of a write up of the destination in an MSNBC article. Alluding to the importance of this exposure, the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister, Irfaan Ali said “Adventure Life is here and we are working with Wilderness Explorers to facilitate the trip. This program has a wide viewership and it forms part of our strategy this year to attract more film/ documentary crews and travel writers to the destination”. Through their customised itinerary, the travel writers will be able to maximise on the experiences over the next eight days as they visit several areas across the country, including Rewa, Surama, Iwokrama, Atta Lodge and several sites in Georgetown. Both representatives expressed excitement and great expectation over all the possibilities that awaited
them as they embarked on their journey to explore Guyana. “For me it seems like an emerging destination, it seems as though you are interested in promoting eco tourism and that is my main interest. I think the pristine environment is the main attraction”. Travel enthusiast, Julia Dimon explained.
January 2013 Issue Inside this issue: Easier Entry for Yachts
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Photo Competition a Success
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Beautification Pro- 2 gramme Launched
Ms. Julia Dimon and her coworker Mr. Mathew Rutherford meeting with the GTA Director, Mr. Indranauth Haralsingh
Caption describing picture or graphic.
Massive Plans for Mash 2013
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6th Edition of Guyana—Where and What launched
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Review of Safety Guidelines for Water Sports
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GTA Reviewing Safety Policies and Guidelines for Water Based Sports Inside Story Headline
GTA reps meet with Regatta Organisers
“We Just wanted to encourage everybody to see it, snap it and send it. A picture sends a thousand words and we can share so much of Guyana by sending photos.”
The Winners of the Photo Competition with the GTA Director, Mr. Haralsingh
The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) will be hosting a series of consultations, this year, with local stakeholders to review existing safety guidelines for regattas and water based activities in Guyana. In recognition of the popularity and growing interest in the regattas as a sporting activity, the Authority is using the opportunity to revise and reformulate safety policies and to implement non existent ones.
The Ministry and the GTA will then use the revised rules as criteria for the endorsement and support of any local water based activity. Towards this end, the first in a series of meetings was held last week, in Parika, with Region 7 Chairman, Mr. Gordon Bradford, and President of the Boat Racing Association of Guyana, Mr. Winston Miller and the Director of Mainstay Resort, Mr. Wilfred Jagnarine .
During the interactive session, the participants discussed the relevance of the existing rules and made relevant suggestions including, the availability of a medi- vac air craft, the presence of additional medical personnel, a review of the course layout and the screening of competitors for alcohol consumption, among others.
Capturing Guyana’s Beauty... ‘See it, Snap it’ Photo Competition a Success Even more persons are being encouraged to appreciate and capture Guyana’s beauty through the Guyana Tourism Authority’s amateur ‘ See it, snap it’ photo competition. This contest formed part of the Authority’s Tourism Awareness Month Activities in November 2012, and attracted widespread participation from persons across the country. The three winners, Duane Defreitas, who copped first position and Amanda
Richards who won both second and first places, were presented with their prizes last week in a simple ceremony at the GTA office in Sophia. According to the GTA Director, Indranauth Haralsingh, this activity was conceptualized to encourage persons to capture and share the beauty of Guyana with as many persons as they can.A panel of judges selected the winning three (3) from a total of sev-
enty (70) photographs in the three categories; attractions, scenery and culture. 1st Place went to Duane Defreitas and his photo, which was in the category of people and which depicted running rapids in a canoe, just below Carona Falls. His camera of choice was a Nikon D200.
2nd Place went to Amanda Richards and her photo, in the category of Scenery, which depicted the old koker at Mon Repos. Her camera of choice was the Nikon D7000. 3rd Place also went to Amanda Richards and her photo, in the category of attractions, which captured City Hall. Her camera
a Nikon COOLPIX Aw100, 16 Megapixels, water proof, shoot proof, freeze proof digital camera with GPS and full HD 1080p Video, a Canon SELPHY CP900 Black Wireless Colour Photo Printer and a Dolica AX620B100 62-Inch Proline, Tripod and Ball head and a Nikon D7000: From Snapshots to Great Shoots photography book. The winners lauded the GTA
for the activity and expressed gratitude for having an outlet to showcase their pictures; they also made valuable suggestions on ways to expand and improve the contest this year. Entry into the competition was free and was open to all amateur photographers over 21 years.
of choice was the Nikon D7000.The prizes awarded to first, second and third place winners respectively included
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Tourism Ministry to continue aggressive marketing strategy….massive plans for `Mash’ 2013 The tourism ministry is set to work aggressively this year to boost arrivals, increase occupancy and to create and to sustain demands for `Destination Guyana’. Minister with the portfolio, Ifraan Ali, made this bold announcement during a press briefing last week, where he outlined the various strategies that will be pursued to achieve these goals. According to Ali, one of the main initiatives is the launch of a visitor plan for 2013 for the
Mashramani celebrations in February, which will be designed to target the needs of all visitors particularly those from the neighboring countries of Brazil, Surinameand Trinidad. He explained, “One of the main initiatives is the launch of a visitor plan for 2013, you will know that we have a lot of Guyanese returning home for Mashramani but we have not, in a structured way been able to target the potential of our neighbors”. In this re-
gard, the Ministry will focus its energies on attracting the participation of a 30 member Brazilian Samba Band, which has the potential to attract as much as 400 ‘followers’ to Guyana. “this will be utilized as the vehicle through which we can attract an average of 400 tourist. We are working with the state of Rorima and Tourism agencies within the state to promote and sell packages,” Minister Ali ex-
Scenes from Mash 2012 The tourism minister revealed that a massive ‘street celebration’ is being conceptualized as part of the plan to attract more persons for the upcoming Mashramani celebrations and to magnify the significances of the occasions.
Urban Beautification for a Living City … Tourism Ministry, M&CC and Business to collaborate Taking steps to honour their corporate social responsibility, members of the businesscommunity ,yesterday, met with Tourism Industry and Commerce Minister, Irfaan Ali as his Ministry unveiled their ‘Urban Beautification Plans’ for a section the City. In his address to the gathering, which included his Worship the Mayor of Georgetown, Hamilton Green, Minister Ali pointed to the benefits of collaboration, made manifest in the success of the Parliament Square project. “We have been successful in transforming the area on Brickdam, now known as Parliament Square. This was made possible through collaboration with the Private Sector, and forms part of the wider ‘Brickdam Renewal Plan’,” he explained.
According to the Minister, a similar such beautification and city enhancement project for the Tourism Ministry will bring with it a plethora of benefits for all involved, including the citizenry and the private sector. Ali also pointed to similar such enhancement projects launched in various parts of the world which have transformed “depressed” areas into beautiful spaces. Alluding to the Ministry’s contri- Ministry of Tourism held first stakeholders meeting on Beautification exercise. bution to the overall beautification effort, he revealed plans to erect a Waterfall directly in front of the South Road office, which will Mayor Green lauded the Minister for the initiative and stretch to include paved expressed the hope that the project will become a walkways for pedestrians. On “flagship” for other such activities, which will be exthis note Minister Ali called tended across the country, and which will have the inon the members of the busiput of the populace. Pointing to the challenges, Green ness community to also conacknowledged the need for the “policing” of the area sider partnership for this and encouraged the inclusion of a wider section of sociproject . ety, particularly the school population.
Sixth Edition of Guyana “Where and What” launched The sixth edition of the “Guyana Where and What”, a magazine which serves as a tour guide for tourist and visitors to Guyana’s shores, was officially launched, yesterday, at the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry, South Road office.
Minister of Tourism (ag) Irfaan Ali and representatives of THAG, GTA and the Editor and Producer of the 2013 ‘Guyana Where & What’ Guide at a simple launching ceremony.
Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister (ag), Irfaan Ali used the opportunity to congratulate its author, Mrs. Gem Madhoo-Nascimento on yet another successful edition, which he said will significantly aid in the enhancement of the tourism sector.He explained too that the guide will serve to complement other local publications, such as the GTA’smonthly newsletter, the Explore Guyana Magazine and the recently conceptualized Invest Guyana Magazine; which will have its primary focus on the Tourism Sector.
Tourism Ministry to Continue Aggressive marketing Strategy The Tourism Ministry is set to work aggressively this year to boost arrivals, increase occupancy and to create and to sustain demands for ‘Destination Guyana’. Minister with the portfolio, Irfaan Ali, made this bold announcement during a press briefing last week, where he outlined the various strategies that will be pursued to achieve these goals. According to Ali, one of the main initiatives is the launch of a visitor plan for 2013 for the Mashramani celebrations in February, which will be designed to target the needs of all visitors particularly those from the neighbouring countries of Brazil, Suriname and Trinidad.
He explained, “One of the main initiatives is the launch of a visitor plan for 2013, you will know that we have a lot of Guyanese returning home for Mashramani but we have not, in a structured way been able to target the potential of our neighbours.” In this regard, the Ministry will focus its energies on attracting the participation of a 30 member Brazilian Samba Band, which has the potential to attract as much as 400 ‘followers’ to Guyana. “This will be utilized as the vehicle through which we can attract an average of 400 tourists. We are working with the state of Roraima and tourism agencies within the State to promote and sell packages,” Minister Ali explained.
In addition to this, there is also strong interest from a Surinamese delegation from the Aptijt (pronounced Uptake) Band , which is one of the leading Bands in that country with a following of at least 500 persons. Alluding to the benefits of these and other interests, Ali said, “We are already working to make this happen. In addition to this, there is also strong interest from Trinidad, where persons will also celebrating Carnival close to Mashramani. We want to target that population and offer Guyana as the potential destination that they can visit, we are going to promote our eco lodges and resorts and river tours.”
The Tourism Minister revealed that a massive ‘Street Celebration’ is being conceptualized as part of the plan to attract more persons for the upcoming Mashramani celebrations and to magnify the significance of the occasion.