Guyanese President Irfaan Ali has announced that his country is working with Barbados to develop a joint tourism product.
During the recent launch of the Explore Guyana Magazine, President Ali said that while the negotiations have yet to be finalised, the aim is to link the two CARICOM countries via a common market package approach.
“Let’s say you are coming to Barbados, and you are staying for a day, then let us see how we can get you to Kaieteur, let us see how we can get you to the Rupununi,” said Ali.
He revealed that talks are progressing to further sell the countries’ tourism products jointly. “That is the type of strategic conversation that is going on at the policy level and that all of you will be included in when we get to the stage of finalising the finer details of how this will work,” the President declared.
Guyana’s recently tabled 2022 budget includes allocations for imaging and rebranding the country, as well as significant facility upgrades and expansion as it seeks to fast-track its development.
“Guyana cannot be sold from Guyana and the brand of Guyana has to be recognisable across the world,” Ali stressed as he mentioned the possibility of advertising at major international ports such as the JFK and Miami international airports.
Speaking on ways that Guyana’s unique product could boost tourism, the President said that they were exploring the creation of a “one of a kind safari drive-through experience” to attract persons from the Caribbean and South America.
He stressed that the Government is willing to make the necessary investments to improve the country’s competitiveness and to find ways of significantly reducing the cost of travel between populist regions and the hinterland and riverain communities.
President Ali also spoke about opportunities to deepen trade with Barbados by using tourism as a vehicle to grow exports of Guyanese commodities including the long-established gold industry.
“We have discussed with Barbados the setting up of a Guyana food terminal and our gold market working with Barbados together. When the cruise liners come in there is tremendous potential if we have a duty-free gold market,” he said.
His statements came ahead of Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s four-day visit to Guyana. While there she was scheduled to hold talks with President Ali, participate in the 2022 International Energy Conference and Expo, and meet with leaders of Suriname and Ghana.
This collaborative approach being pursued by Barbados and Guyana is one which has been long suggested by regional tourism industry insiders including hotels and airlines. With intra-regional travel struggling to rebound to pre-pandemic levels, many have welcomed the move and have suggested that other Caribbean islands explore similar opportunities.
This is a lead article from Caribbean Insight, our sister publication from The Caribbean Council.