Tourism Policy in consultative stage

GINA, GUYANA, Thursday, March 23, 2017

Director General of the Department of Tourism in the Ministry of Business, Donald Sinclair said that when the Draft Tourism Policy is finalised, it will be a document that will have the input of a wide cross-section of society. The draft policy is now at the consultative stage.

Sinclair said that in accordance with the policy of spreading tourism planning to all the regions, the Ministry of Business, through its Department of Tourism will be conducting Tourism Planning Workshops. He said that the workshop will start in Region Seven on March 24, 2017 from 14:00hrs in the boardroom of the Regional Administrative Office.

Sinclair said that the objectives of the workshop include: enhancing stakeholders’ understanding of the role that tourism can play in the development of the Region, to identify each region’s visitor hotspots that serve or can serve as the basis for a viable visitor industry and to elaborate the lines of action needed to strengthen tourism business based upon hotspots identified.

“The Department of Tourism believes that these tourism planning workshops will be most meaningful if the participants attend,” Sinclair said.

The workshops will be targeting the regional administration’s decision makers, owners and managers of key tourism establishments and services such as (hotels, guest houses, and restaurants among others), and representatives of the banking and security sectors.

Meanwhile, the villages that will be participating in the Best Kept Village Competition were revealed today. Sinclair said that this competition is an initiative by the subject Minister, Dominic Gaskin. The villages are under the category of Small, Medium and Large.

Sinclair said that the purpose of the competition is to restore and enhance pride in villages and communities, to nurture a passion for a clean, pleasing and healthy village environment and to strengthen cooperation and partnerships within the village with the aim of improving village environment. Specific responsibility for getting the villages ready will rest with the Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) in each Region, and residents through self- help activities.

Judging will take place in September and October, while results will be announced in November during Tourism Month. Judges will be paying close attention to, absence of litter and unsightly dumps, conditions of playing fields, school yards, public spaces and signboards, conditions of public and private buildings, gardens and other open spaces, cleanliness of public conveniences, state of trenches, drains and canals among other criteria.

The Director General said that sponsors also play a very important role in the competition. He explained that the competition offers sponsors high visibility and abundant corporate social responsibility opportunity through a number of means.

All the prizes for the competition for the three categories will be monetary. The participating villages in the Best Kept Village are:

REGIONS	SMALL	MEDIUM	LARGE
1	Warapoka Kamwatta(Mabaruma)	White Water Waramuri Sebai	Santa Rosa
2	Andrews Pomona New Housing Scheme Aurora Huis’t Dieren Better Success Better Hope	Henrietta
3	De Kenderen	Best Village Plantain Walk Stanleytown Bagotville Nismes Den Amstel Uitvlugt Success- Leguan	Stewartville
4		Annandale Beterverwagting/ Triumph Mocha, EBD
5	No. 30/Trafalgar	Dundee, Mahaicony	Bath Settlement , WCD
6	Koortberaat Village, East Bank Berbice	Tain Village	Cumberland, East Canje Berbice
7	Karrau Riversview Batavia Kartabo Chinoweing Dogg Point Imbaimadai Agatash Quebanang Kako Paurima Isseneru Kangaruma	Phillipai Jawalla Kamarang Waramadong
8	Micobie Kopinang	Paramakatoi
9	Surama Rewa Massara Shulinab South Central Sand Creek South Central
10	River’s View

 

 

By: Gabreila Patram