Tourism continues to be a priority sector for development – Min Walrond
Guyana’s tourism sector is positioned for sustained growth and expansion in 2024.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond on Tuesday explained that the National Budget which is set to be presented Monday will outline measures that will see substantial transformation in the sector.
“It continues to remain one of our priority sectors. As you see we are diversifying our tourism product to bring different kinds of visitors. We have the eco-tourism product which is a stellar product and remains steadfast. We continue to invest in and grow that product but we are also diversifying into events and conferences,” Minister Walrond told reporters on the sidelines of the Small Business Bureau (SBB) grant distribution exercise, at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
Minister Walrond noted that the events and conferences that were hosted in Guyana have brought a lot of visitors and these efforts will continue.
“This year, you’ll see many conferences and that’s all part of the vision for tourism, to bring visitors into Guyana…You’ll find more sporting events including the CPL finals, racing events, the international conferences where you find hundreds of countri…countries [are] coming in, all of those are part of the diversifying or tourism product,” she noted.
Additionally, the tourism minister highlighted that this year promises to be thrilling for the tourism industry, which is evident in the scarcity of available hotel rooms.
She pointed out that the growing demand has reached a point where individuals are now required to secure hotel reservations up to a year in advance.
“We have seen incredible performance and growth in August and September. We doubled our visitor arrivals,” the minister underscored.
The government is also actively pursuing the expansion of areas designated for tourism development, and there are ongoing efforts to collaborate with additional airlines to attract a higher number of visitors to Guyana.