Presidential Candidate of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Dr Irfaan Ali said that the party will re-establish a national airline when it gets back into power.
This comment was made at the Opposition party’s end-of-year press brief where he explained that this will undoubtedly boost Guyana’s tourism sector and more so, provide for the needs Guyanese.
PPP/C Presidential Candidate, Dr Irfaan Ali
“Definitely we would have to examine this issue in its totality. We have not discounted any solution as yet but it will be based on the numbers and in terms of a national airline, you could have a national carrier that is not managed by Government…that is managed independently; you can have a public-private partnership. All of these are possible solutions because it is indeed very critical for the tourism sector,” Ali said.
He reflected on the situation in Guyana when airfares had skyrocketed while noting that the situation remains the same.
“You would recall that when I was holding responsibility for tourism, we had a situation in Guyana at that time where the fares went up very, very high. And we had called in the executive of Caribbean Airlines for a meeting at that time with our stakeholders. And we were able to iron out a number of issues including the ease of travel and what was taking place in Trinidad. I’ve seen now the fares back at that level that we were fighting then, and even higher, especially if you look at the Canadian route,” he reminded.
However, recognising the challenges, Dr Ali expressed his commitment to revamping the tourism sector which would involve examining various solutions as well as reassessing existing policies in order to ensure that all stakeholders are able to benefit.
“We cannot sustain the sector, we cannot build the sector on the present cost structure, not only for international travel but for local travel. The local travel, you know VAT has been added on local air ticket[s], the cost of fuel has gone up, there were certain exemptions for example in Region One that benefited people there that have been removed, the investment in the transportation network in the hinterland has been really neglected”, he added.
Nevertheless, Dr Ali further added that the purpose of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) expansion project is yet to be achieved and that the change in vision has served as a hindrance to the progress of our tourism industry, all of which, he said, must be readdressed in order to transform Guyana’s tourism arena.
“If we look at the sector, we can’t look at the sector only as a Guyana destination. The objective of the expansion of the airport was to make us a transit location so that more traffic would be coming in from different airlines going on to other destinations. We have not achieved that, so that is still an important aspect because of our geographic location that we must capitalise on. So, if we become an in-transit location for different carriers, then it gives us the ability and a longer reach in terms of more airlines coming in. So, it’s looking at it from this holistic perspective and definitely, we’ll be analysing this,” Dr Ali asserted.
In March of 2019, Guyana was awarded in Berlin after being named the number one “Best of Ecotourism” destination in the world from among the top 100 destinations selected by a panel of experts who reviewed sustainability success stories submitted by destinations worldwide. The newly-created “Best of Ecotourism” category was added in 2019 and put Guyana up against very well-known and experienced ecotourism destinations like Sierra Gorda in Mexico, Tmatboey in Cambodia, and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.
Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) President Brian Mullis had said: “Guyana has expended considerable effort in recent years not only to develop new and innovative eco-friendly tourism products as a part of the national Green State Development Strategy but also to incorporate sustainable tourism best practices into all aspects of its strategy, planning and programming while educating the world about its deep commitment to maximising the positive socio-economic and conservation outcomes from tourism”.
Further, Guyana was also honoured at the “Golden City Gate” Film Awards held in Berlin as the winner of the ‘Destinations’ category. Destination Guyana took first place for its nature destination video in the worldwide video competition that has been running for 19 years.
