GUYANA RUM ROUTE: First Task Force Meeting Held

Georgetown, Guyana

The ‘Guyana Rum Route’ Task Force met for the first time on Thursday, July 12, 2018 to discuss the key details of the initiative. Participants deliberated on what exactly is the official ‘Guyana Rum Route’, candidates eligible to design it, and the corresponding operational guidelines; how will the final decision be reached, and how to build awareness in the public domain while accentuating the positives.

The Task Force decided that the official ‘Guyana Rum Route’ should comprise an itinerary that spans three (3) to five (5) nights, with an option of being shorter. It is to be one that is appealing and exciting to visitors; and a route that packages and presents, in a fascinating way, the diverse components of the rum-production experience. It ought to be a route that includes the tasting of Rum, but a fundamental aspect should be the exposure to the Guyanese culture and heritage related to sugar cultivation, and the associated customs and traditions.

Invitees to design the ‘Guyana Rum Route’ would include Tour operators, the University of Guyana – Tourism Studies Unit, Rum producers, GUYSUCO, and the Special Purposes Unit (SPU). With the Department of Tourism being the lead agency, it will submit to the Task Force the operational criteria by which itineraries will be assessed, resulting in the Task Force establishing a ‘Route vetting’ team that will then short-list an appropriate number of submissions using the agreed criteria. The ‘route vetting’ team will then assess each short-listed itinerary to determine its feasibility and visitor appeal; and finally, name a winner and a runner up.