Guyana remains a relatively safe tourism destination despite the perception that crime is spiralling out of control, according to Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) Director Indranauth Haralsingh.
During an interview with Guyana Times, Haralsingh said incidents of crime in the country are not directed to visitors and tourists.
Guyana Tourism Authority Director Indranauth Haralsingh
“Guyana is a safe destination for visitors… We know that safety and security is paramount but I can assure you that most of the destinations are safe,” he said.
Haralsingh outlined that there are determined protocols which visitors are urged to follow to ensure their safety such as not wearing flashy jewellery and keeping certain information related to travel confidential.
However, as a precautionary measure, a proposal was made to develop a separate policing unit for the tourism sector, the Director revealed.
He explained that the proposal was made several months ago when Cathy Hughes was Tourism Minister, recommending the establishment of a tourism policing unit.
This unit, the Director added, would develop strategies to protect and secure certain tourism hotspots so that tourists can feel safer when visiting those areas.
He said the proposal was also made to Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan; however, no headway has been made thus far.
Nonetheless, he expressed optimism that the proposal is still open for consideration.
In light of the perceived upsurge in crime, concerns were high that these incidents would have a negative impact on the country’s tourism sector.
But Acting Top Cop David Ramnarine indicated that the perceptions are wrong when he announced on Monday that serious crimes were down by a whopping 17 per cent when compared to last year.
The decrease, the acting Top Cop said, is for the period January to October 2016 compared to the same period last year.
For the period this year, there were some 2700 reports of serious crime. For the same period last year, there were 3263 reports of serious crimes. So far for 2016, Ramnarine said, there have been 119 reports of murder against 149 for the entire 2015. He added that there has been a 62 per cent reduction. Meanwhile, this year, there have been some 638 reports of robbery under arms, as against 670 for 2015. For robbery under arms with the use of other instruments, there have been 254 reports this year, against 310 last year. There have also been 79 reports of robbery with violence compared to 115 for the same period last year.
