Tourism Committee pledges to deliver strategy to revive industry

The Tourism Recovery Action Committee (TRAC) has begun formal operations, after it was established for the purpose of implementing strategies for the recovery of the tourism industry – a sector that has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In recent months, most hotels, resorts and lodges have been at zero or near-zero occupancy for a number of months. Tour operators, tour guides, tourism providers and a whole range of support staff along the tourism supply chain are either out of work or working on a vastly reduced schedule.
As such, the Committee issued a statement on Thursday, noting that several stakeholder agencies have come on board to restructure the industry to suit the times. Representatives from the health, civil aviation, communities, foreign affairs, public telecommunications, Indigenous peoples, ports and frontiers, small business and communications industries were invited to define a tourism recovery strategy.
“Thousands of workers in hotels, guest houses, restaurants and the transportation sector now find themselves without income…Recognising the current critical state of the industry, the Action Committee viewed as priority the pulling together of the right agencies to serve the entity,” the newly-established Committee said.
Since its formation some three weeks ago, TRAC was able to define a structure and collect inputs from stakeholders involved. In approximately two weeks, these specialist inputs will be subjected to examination in order to put together and craft a workable tourism recovery strategy. Strategies to attract financial support to the sector are also a priority given the continuing hardships afflicting sector workers.
“Priorities TRAC is of the view that Guyana shares many similar recovery priorities with sister destinations in the Caribbean and Latin America. One key priority is the creation of a tourism experience that is safe for the visitor while not putting at risk any local populations. For this reason, special urgency attaches to recommendations that will be coming from the health, security and civil aviation entities and one of TRAC’s earliest public pronouncements will be the measures proposed to eliminate, as far as possible, any possible health risks associated with travel to and from Guyana.”
It is expected that within a few weeks, a plan will be presented that is tailored to suit the local tourism sector and also one that has “strategic national tourism objectives”.
“This Plan will seek to position the industry to maximise the competitive advantages Guyana possesses as it markets itself in a post-COVID travel environment that brings new sensitivities and priorities. Over the long term TRAC intends to return tourism in Guyana to its place of prominence as a major contributor to the national GDP,” the Committee pledged.