Copyright, investment, new venues top agenda as Govt meets entertainers, promoters

Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry on Monday hosted a major stakeholder engagement with entertainers, promoters and creatives at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), where discussions centred on issues affecting professionals in the industry including, copyright legislation, investment, performance spaces and training as Guyana prepares for the 2026 Diamond Jubilee calendar of events. According to the Ministry, the consultations are part of the wider national preparations to support President Dr Irfaan Ali’s vision for a year-long programme of cultural, creative and tourism activities.

A formal annual events calendar will be launched soon, with immediate, time-sensitive events being prioritised. Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister, Susan Rodrigues told creatives that the event is part of a deliberate push to expand tourism in both Georgetown and the wider coastland, while building long-term systems to support the creative sector. During a wide-ranging question and answer segment, stakeholders raised several recurring concerns from the need for modern copyright and intellectual property legislation, lack of performance spaces and cultural centres in major towns, challenges accessing sponsorship, especially with global companies entering Guyana’s economy, investment opportunities for new entertainment venues and cultural infrastructure and support for family-friendly events and diversified tourism offerings, among others. Rodrigues acknowledged these issues, saying they fall squarely within the Government’s broader plan to develop Guyana’s orange economy. The Minister repeated a principle she said has defined Government’s approach over the past five years. “We’re in tourism and tourism happens every day, all day and we want to be a part of that. We can’t sit and wait for one thing to happen before we do something else. We’ve been saying this for the last five years that we can’t work in a straight line. If we work in a straight line, we would not have been able to achieve a quarter of the things that we’ve achieved in the last five years. We’re trying to build a country, building all the sectors at once. “I’m here to work with you. I’m hoping that this is a signal to you, my brother, that I’m here to work not only with you, but for you. You are my stakeholders. And I said the same thing to the hotels and all of the operators in tourism, that I’m here to help you. The Government doesn’t do tourism. This is an enormous opportunity here for us to work collaboratively, but you will be the greatest beneficiary,” the Minister told the gathering. Rodrigues also clarified how Government determines which events receive sponsorship, noting that events must also be reliable, as the Ministry incorporates them into tourism marketing, diaspora outreach and travel packages. She gave examples such as: using the annual Origins Fashion Festival, Worship Experience, Rodeo, Bartica Regatta and Easter celebrations to build targeted tourism packages marketed abroad.

Calendar of events
“The calendar of events, as I mentioned before, this is not an exhaustive calendar. We want you to know what we’re doing so that you will know how to plan. So you will see, for example, in July of next year, there are certain events that will take place. The worship experience, the Origins Fashion Festival”. “Every month, there’ll be activities happening. I know that you can’t tell me between now and the 31st of December everything that you’re going to do for 2026. Events will come up. That’s the nature of the industry. We’re not against that. And I want to be very clear about that. We’re not against that. We’re not against creativity. We’re not against spontaneity. We support that. And we want you to think and have as many events as possible, make as much money as possible. We support that. But what we are proposing is that when we are curating our packages, that we know of the events so that we can incorporate it and we can refer people to your event. That’s our job to create that tourism experience or a tourist experience that includes you,” she explained. Rodrigues also emphasised the need for professional training, especially as Guyana’s entertainment and tourism sectors rapidly expand. The Ministry aims to partner with training providers to strengthen skills in event management, tourism service standards, sponsorship readiness, technical production as well as hospitality and visitor experience.