President of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG), Mitra Ramkumar has called for a ban on wildlife trade and the commercial use of wild meat. Ramkumar made the call at the launching of the “Explore Guyana” 2020 Magazine on Friday at MovieTowne, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown. According to Ramkumar, this is not the first time THAG has called for a ban on the trade and commercial use of wild meat. He said that himself and members of the tourism organisation have used all public avenues to reiterate the call. “We cannot proudly call ourselves the number one eco-tourism destination if we involve ourselves in unsustainable practices and immorality,” he said. Meanwhile, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA), Brian Mullis explained that Guyana has become one of the “hottest and upcoming” travel destinations since 2019, and people are coming to these shores not only because of the new oil sector. “It’s because of Guyana’s long-standing sustainability agenda which is increasingly becoming important in an age of over-tourism, flying change and climate change”, he said. Mullis vocalised that even though we are deemed the best travel destination, Guyana must make necessary adjustments to improve as a country and to maintain that status. “We have to maintain a focus on collaboration and continuous improvements. Partnership is the key to our continued success… this has led to a lot of positive outcomes in a relatively short amount of time.” Explore Guyana The cover of Explore Guyana 2020 features the Iwokarma rainforests, an idea that came after a thorough thought of climate change, preservation of the environment, sustainable development and the landscape of Guyana’s rainforests. Giving a background on why the rainforest was chosen, publisher of the magazine, Lokesh Singh explained that in 1989, with the world under pressure talking about climate change and the protection of the environment and the demolishing of the forests of the world, Guyana committed one million acres of pristine rainforests to be the Iwokarma rainforest reserve. He further explained that the 22nd edition of the magazine was also created with the thought in mind that it is usually said that the company would always feature a bird or waterfall. However, this year they strived to do something different. Meanwhile, the new edition featured four Guyanese personalities on its pages with major events and festivals of Guyana for each month of the year.
