Pushing… our tourism

Yesterday was ‘World Tourism Day”- under the theme “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism.” With the government firmly committed to diversifying our economy – to escape the much feared “Dutch Disease” – they’ve embraced the occasion with initiatives and ambition!! The Minister announced a goal of hitting ONE MILLION VISITORS annually by 2030!!
With AI embedded in the mix, your Eyewitness can just see visitors discovering our magnificent Iwokrama Forest Reserve courtesy of an algorithm, booking an interior lodge from New York and receiving an itinerary before her suitcase is closed!! Sounds great, doesn’t it?? Especially when our old tourism strategy relied rather heavily on somebody knowing somebody – who knew a man with a boat!!
Digital maps, online bookings and smarter promotion will certainly give small tour operators and community lodges a fairer opportunity of reaching the world – and showing them what we got, they just gotta see!! The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana – THAG – has made that case while urging the industry to keep our locals at the centre of the experience. Its president cautioned the industry to “embrace technology without losing our humanity”!! And it’s our unique Guyaneseness that’s gonna make tourists come – and more importantly return, innit??
But we really gotta jettison a cherished national habit – announcing the destination before arranging the journey!! An AI assistant can recommend a magnificent river expedition, but it ain’t gonna make the boat arrive on time’; give hinterland lodges reliable connectivity or persuade overseas visitors that “call back tomorrow” is a booking system!!
And please, let’s learn the lesson that AI bots are trained by feeding them info that they process and then regurgitate when prompted!! So, we gotta let the software learn about Guyana from Guyanese!! Visitors asking about a village should hear its people’s story – not receive a glossy paragraph generated by a machine that’s never crossed the BJ Demerara River Bridge!! If our tourist destinations supply the welcome, the knowledge and the adventure, your Eyewitness is sure they’ll receive more than a passing mention on a platform’s website!!
The UN itself – which has been on our radar recently!! – warns that AI could keep sending travelers to already famous destinations – and, within Guyana, to its best-known attractions – unless smaller local operators are visible online too!! It’s clear that the govt is quite hip to that possibility and is making the smallest operator easy to find; paying to train young Guyanese to run the digital services, and ensuring the visitors’ dollars travel further than the booking fee!!
So, by all means, let AI redesign tourism. But when the visitor reaches the landing, somebody with actual intelligence still gotta know where the boat is!!

…Caroline
After Pressie showed the UN General Assembly what an asset Caroline Rodrigues-Birkett would be as General Secretary to the future on the organization and multilateralism – we gotta keep on pushing diplomatically until the deed gets done!! So let’s look at the timeline to get a feel for the lay of the land to deploy our resources wisely!!
Candidate hearings began back in April and the Security Council – which makes the nomination of a candidate for the General Assembly to vote on – began straw polls in late July with Caroline running neck and neck with the Costa Rican candidate – also female. This process normally runs into October since the incumbent’s term ends Dec 31!!
For Carolyn, the decisive hurdle is therefore the Security Council recommendation, rather than the subsequent General Assembly appointment – and this means none of the Big Five – the US, China, Russia, Britain and France – use their veto power to nix her!!
The UNGA always follows the Security Council’s recommendation – so that’s where we gotta lobby!!

…clean power
Pressie announced that his govt is again evaluating bids – on Build Own Operate and Transfer model – for the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project.
Lets hope we’re third time lucky – since we gotta balance our power mix!!