Hospitality training for immigration officers
– 100 Immigration Officers proceed on 1-year hospitality training
– over 200,000 visitor arrivals in 2018
– $5+Billion in Travel and tourism investments
by Ayana George
DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, May 22, 2019
The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), the Tourism Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) and Rainforest Tours are among the agencies which have partnered to provide one year of Hospitality training for Immigrations Officers stationed at ports of entry.
According to THAG’s President, Mitra Ramkumar, 50 Immigration Officers are presently undergoing the training exercise, and the other 50 will follow after completion of the first batch.
In an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI) on Wednesday, the THAG President said that the agency is working to boost tourism in the most meaningful ways. “There is room for improvement in this regard, and that is the main reason why THAG is lobbying for the establishment for a Hospitality Institute which will plug whatever gap we have within the tourism Industry. THAG is presently seeking partnership with the Ministry of Education and Carnegie in order to raise the standards of service.”
Ramkumar noted that in 2018, Guyana received a record number of more than 200,000 visitors. With much emphasis placed on tourism, this could see a significant boost in the number of visitors to the country, which has various tourist attracting areas and seasonal events.
Tourism is the third largest export sector in Guyana, after gold and rice, and represents 6.2 per cent of Guyana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Images: Leon Leung