GTA launches OTT course to market Guyana’s tourism sector

The Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) has launched its own Online Travel Training (OTT) course, designed to introduce the international? ?travel trade to the country’s budding tourism sector as a South American destination.
In a press statement on Friday, the entity noted that Guyana is one of the most undiscovered destinations despite being characterised by its bounty of nature, wildlife and birdlife, and its eclectic mix of cultures.

“The leaps in sustainable tourism in recent years have propelled Guyana onto the international tourism stage and have opened up small communities to tourism, allowing visitors to get a meaningful and off-the-beaten-track experience. With around 87 per cent rainforest cover across the whole country, its ecosystems support vibrant populations of some of the largest species on the continent and indeed the world,” it said.
As such, the course is aimed at introducing the travel industry to Guyana’s attractions and to be equipped to sell the destination for the 2021 season and beyond, hopefully, kick-starting Guyana’s international tourism following a torrid 2020 for the global travel industry.
The course is available at ?www.guyanatraining.com – the modules consist of nature, wildlife, birding, culture and heritage among others while taking a deep-dive into Guyana’s successful brand of sustainable tourism in the community-tourism and lodges section.
“The course is structured in a way that allows for its content to cover information on Guyana’s main pillars of tourism: wildlife and nature, birding, active exploration, culture and heritage, and conservation and SAVE (student, academic, volunteer, education) travel. Module one provides users with all the Guyana ‘essentials’ including how to get there, geography and climate, ethnicity and language as well as including an overview of the other more in-depth modules,” the GTA positioned.
In addition to its modules, the course also provides a host of tools and practical information for the travel trade to use when selling the destination including trade-friendly tour operator and local operator contacts, sample itineraries, images maps and more.
The course was announced? ?in August 2020 via an exclusive “Be Inspired by Guyana” webinar which was held in collaboration with OTT’s Julia Feuell who moderated a panel discussion and presentation.
In the past months, the GTA has been preparing for a rebound of the tourism industry. Just last week, it had 27 tourism participants in a one-day business and social media management programme. According to the Tourism Authority, the programme was created for members of the local tourism sector.